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WOODWORKING    FOR 
BEGINNERS 


BY 

CHARLES  G.  WHEELER,  B.S. 


Know  what  them  canst  work  at  and  work  at  it  like  a  Hercules." 

CARLYLE. 


WITH    OVER    7OO    ILLUSTRATIONS 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 
New  York  and  London 
ZTbe  Ifcnicfeerbocfeer  press 

1906 


COPYRIGHT,  1899 

BY 
CHARLES  G.  WHEELER 


"Cbc  ftnicfterbocher  press,  "Hew  jporh 


TO    THE 

YOUTHFUL   FOUNDERS 

OF 

"TOTLET  TOWN" 

WITHOUT   WHOSE   INSPIRATION    THIS   BOOK   WOULD   NOT 
HAVE   BEEN    UNDERTAKEN 


2065868 


PREFACE 

THE  aim  of  this  book  is  to  suggest  to  amateurs  of  all  ages 
many  things  which  they  can  profitably  make  of  wood, 
and  to  start  them  in  the  way  to  work  successfully.  It  is 
hoped  that,  in  the  case  of  boys,  it  may  show  them  pleasant 
and  useful  ways  to  work  off  some  of  their  surplus  energy, 
and  at  the  same  time  contribute  toward  their  harmonious 
all-round  development. 

It  is  not  an  attempt  to  teach  the  arts  of  architecture, 
carpentry,  cabinet-making,  or  boat-building.  Although  not 
intended  primarily  to  impart  skill  in  the  use  of  tools  (some- 
thing which  can  only  be  acquired  from  experience  and  ob- 
servation and  cannot  be  taught  by  any  book),  still  no  one 
can  go  through  the  processes  indicated  without  gaining  at 
least  some  slight  degree  of  manual  skill  as  well  as  a  fund  of 
practical  information  and  experience. 

Many  books  which  give  directions  for  mechanical  work 
(particularly  those  addressed  to  boys)  have  several  serious 
faults,  and  can  be  grouped  in  three  classes.  Some  seem  to 
be  written  by  practical  workmen,  who,  however  well  fitted 
to  do  the  work  themselves,  lack  the  pedagogical  training  or 
the  psychological  insight  necessary  to  lay  out  such  work 
with  due  regard  to  the  mental  and  physical  capacity,  ex- 
perience, and  development  of  youth,  or  to  the  amateur's 
lack  of  experience  in  the  rudiments  of  the  subject.  Others 
are  written  by  teachers  or  amateurs  who  lack  the  trained 
mechanic's  practical  and  varied  knowledge  and  experience 
in  serious  work.  Others  (and  this  last  class  is,  perhaps,  the 
worst  of  the  three)  seem  to  be  made  by  compilers  who  have 
apparently  been  satisfied  to  sweep  together,  without  requisite 


vi  Preface 

knowledge  or  sufficient  moral  purpose,  whatever  they  may 
have  found  that  would  be  interesting  or  attractive,  without 
due  regard  to  its  real  value.  All  these  writers  are  constantly 
falling  into  errors  and  making  omissions  harmful  alike  to  the 
moral  and  the  manual  progress  of  the  readers.1 

Effort  has  been  made  in  the  preparation  of  this  book  to 
avoid  these  evils,  to  keep  in  line  with  the  advanced  educa- 
tional ideas  of  the  time,  and  to  look  at  the  subject  from  the 
standpoints  of  the  teacher,  the  mechanic,  the  boy,  and  the 
amateur  workman.  The  treatment  is  neither  general  nor 
superficial,  but  elementary,  and  no  claim  is  made  that  it  will 
carry  anyone  very  far  in  the  various  subjects ;  but  it  aims 
to  be  thorough  and  specific  as  far  as  it  goes  and  to  teach 
nothing  which  will  have  to  be  unlearned. 

Great  care  (based  upon  an  extended  experience  with  boys 
and  amateurs)  has  been  taken  to  include  only  what  can  be 
profitably  done  by  an  intelligent  boy  of  from  ten  to  eighteen 
or  by  the  average  untrained  worker  of  more  mature  years. 
It  is  hoped  that  from  the  variety  of  subjects  treated  he  may 
find  much  of  the  information  for  which  he  may  seek — if  not 
in  the  exact  form  desired,  perhaps  in  some  typical  form  or 
something  sufficiently  similar  to  suggest  to  him  what  he 
needs  to  know. 

It  is  hoped  and  confidently  believed  that  a  work  so  com- 
prehensive in  scope  and  giving  such  a  variety  of  designs, 
with  detailed  and  practical  directions  for  their  execution, 
will  be  not  merely  novel,  but  may  serve  as  a  vade-mecum  and 
ready-reference  book  for  the  amateur  of  constructive  tastes. 

CHARLES  G.  WHEELER. 

BOSTON,  June,  1899. 

1  These  criticisms  are  meant  to  apply  to  the  class  of  manuals,  compendium^, 
and  so-called  "  Boys'  Books"  and  "Amateurs'  Books,"  in  the  popular  sense  of 
the  word,  and  not  to  the  many  admirable  works  on  sloyd,  manual  training,  and 
the  various  special  branches  of  wood-working. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I— A    WORKSHOP  FOR  AMATEURS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I — INTRODUCTORY i 

II — TOOLS     .........  9 

III — WOOD     .........  29 

IV — WORKING   DRAWINGS,    LAYING    OUT    THE   WORK, 

AND  ESTIMATING         ......  49 

V — THE  WORKSHOP      .......  56 

PART  II— ARTICLES  TO  BE  MADE  IN  THE    WORKSHOP 

VI — INTRODUCTORY        .......  103 

VII — A  FEW  TOYS           .......  106 

VIII — HOUSES  FOR  ANIMALS     .         .         .         .         .         .126 

IX — IMPLEMENTS  FOR  OUTDOOR  SPORTS  AND  ATHLETICS.  141 

X — FURNITURE     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  175 

XI — A  FEW  MISCELLANEOUS  OPERATIONS       .         .         .  218 

PART  III— HOUSE-BUILDING  FOR  BEGINNERS 

XII — SOME  ELEMENTARY  PRINCIPLES      ....  238 
XIII — SIMPLE  SUMMER  COTTAGES     .         .         .         .         .271 

XIV — A  FEW  SIMPLE  STRUCTURES  .....  291 

vij 


viii  Contents 

PART  IV— BOAT-BUILDING  FOR  BEGINNERS 
XV — A  FEW  SIMPLE  BOATS   ......     298 

PART  V— TOOLS  AND  OPERATIONS 

XVI — THE  COMMON  HAND-TOOLS,  AND  SOME  EVERY-DAY 
OPERATIONS,  ALPHABETICALLY  ARRANGED  FOR 
READY  REFERENCE  ......  344 

APPENDIX — MATTERS  RELATING  TO  WOOD,  SUGGESTIONS 

ABOUT  WORKING  DRAWINGS,  ETC.  ...  .  507 

INDEX 539 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

IT  has  seemed  best  to  address  parts  of  this  book  particu- 
larly to  boys,  because  the  majority  of  beginners  are 
boys,  because  boys  need  more  suggestions  than  men,  and 
because  a  man  can  easily  pick  what  he  needs  from  a  talk  to 
boys  (and  perhaps  be  interested  also),  while  it  is  usually  un- 
profitable to  expect  a  boy  to  take  hold  of  a  technical  subject 
in  the  right  spirit  if  it  is  treated  in  a  style  much  in  advance 
of  his  degree  of  maturity.  It  is  hoped,  however,  that  the 
older  reader  also  will  find  enough  of  those  fundamental 
principles  of  successful  work  (many  of  which  do  not  readily 
occur  to  the  untrained  amateur  except  as  the  result  of  much 
costly  experience)  to  be  a  material  help  to  him. 


ix 


"  It  is  not  strength,  but  art  obtains  the  prize, 
And  to  be  swift  is  less  than  to  be  wise  ; 
'T  is  more  by  art,  than  force  of  numerous  strokes." 

HOMER,  Iliad. 


WOOD-WORKING  FOR 
BEGINNERS 


PART  I 

A   WORKSHOP  FOR  AMATEURS 


CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY 

WHEN  one  has  made  up  his  mind  to  make  something, 
he  usually  wants  to  begin  work  at  once;  so,  as  I 
wish  you  to  read  this  chapter,  I  will  make  it  quite  short. 
There  is  a  great  deal  in  getting  started  right,  and  there  are 
some  things  to  bear  in  mind  if  you  wish  to  do  good  work, 
as  of  course  you  do. 

One  thing  is  not  to  be  in  too  much  of  a  hurry  to  begin 
the  actual  sawing  and  pounding.  The  old  Latin  phrase, 
"  Festina  lente  "  (make  haste  slowly),  is  a  capital  motto  for 
the  beginner.  Do  not  wait  until  your  enthusiasm  has  oozed 
away,  of  course,  but  do  stop  long  enough  to  think  how  you 
are  going  to  make  a  thing  before  you  begin  to  saw. 

The  workman  who  thinks  first  and  acts  afterwards  is  the 
one  who  usually  turns  out  good  work,  while  the  one  who 
begins  to  work  without  any  reflection  (as  boys,  and  even 


2  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

men,  have  been  known  to  do)  is  apt  to  spend  much  of  his 
time  in  undoing  his  work,  and  usually  d®es  not  get  through 
till  after  the  one  who  laid  it  out  properly  in  the  first  place.1 

If  Homer,  in  the  quotation  at  the  head  of  this  chapter, 
had  been  writing  about  the  way  boys'  work  is  sometimes 
done,  he  might,  perhaps,  have  reversed  the  positions  of  some 
of  the  words  and  made  "  swiftness  "  and  "  numerous 
strokes  "  the  subjects  of  his  emphasis.  He  has  expressed 
well  enough,  however,  the  way  that  your  work  should  be 
done,  and  it  is  one  aim  of  this  book  to  give  you  useful  hints 
to  that  end. 

Do  not  spend  your  time  in  working  out  a  lot  of  set  exer- 
cises, like  joints  and  odd  pieces  that  do  not  belong  to  any- 

1  An  old  gentleman  whose  help,  on  account  of  his  accurate  workmanship,  I 
once  frequently  obtained  when  "  rushed,"  was  an  extreme  example  of  this  sys- 
tematic way  of  doing  work.  I  would  give  him  perhaps  three  hours'  work, 
which  he  would  agree  to  have  done  at  the  end' of  that  time.  Looking  in  after 
an  hour  or  so  I  would  find  the  work  apparently  untouched,  which  was  a  little 
provoking,  of  course,  as  the  average  workman  would  have  had  it  perhaps  one 
third  done.  But  instead,  this  old  gentleman  would  be  apparently  only  "  put- 
tering around,"  touching  up  his  saws,  fixing  his  planes,  whetting  his  chisels, 
looking  over  the  wood,  and  not  getting  ahead  a  bit.  Going  off  in  disgust 
(until  I  got  acquainted  with  his  ways,  I  mean),  I  would  return  at  the  end  of  the 
three  hours,  to  find  that  the  work  had  been  ready  some  time  and  done  to  per- 
fection. While  he  was  at  first  apparently  accomplishing  nothing  he  was  really 
getting  everything  in  perfect  shape  to  do  the  work  and  laying  out  in  his  mind 
every  detail  of  the  whole  process,  so  that  when  he  began  the  actual  work  it 
almost  did  itself,  and  he  forged  right  ahead  of  the  average  workman,  who 
would  either  have  been  behind  time  or  slighted  the  work  in  order  to  get  it 
done,  and  in  most  cases  have  made  some  mistake  to  be  corrected  in  some  part 
of  the  process.  I  never  knew  that  man  to  make  a  mistake.  Why  ?  Not  be- 
cause his  ability  was  extraordinary,  but  because  he  concentrated  his  mind  on 
the  work  and  thought  it  out  clear  through  before  he  began.  Now  I  know  the 
average  boy  too  well  to  expect  him  to  have  the  patience  to  do  just  as  this 
workman  did.  It  would  be  unreasonable.  But  it  is  the  true  way  to  do  good 
work,  so  try  to  think  it  all  out  as  far  as  you  can  and  to  get  ready  before  you 
begin.  The  work  will  go  ever  so  much  more  quickly  and  easily. 


Introductory  3 

thing  in  particular,  merely  for  practice.  You  will  be  much 
more  apt  to  put  the  right  spirit  into  your  work  when  you 
make  complete  and  useful  articles,  and  you  will  get  the 
same  practice  and  experience  in  the  end.  There  is  no 
need,  however,  to  go  through  a  deal  of  toilsome  experience 
just  to  learn  a  number  of  simple  little  things  that  you  might 
just  as  well  be  told  in  the  first  place.  Begin  the  process  of 
learning  by  experience  after  you  have  learned  what  you  can 
from  the  experience  of  others.  Begin,  so  far  as  you  can, 
where  others  have  left  off. 

Before  you  begin  work  it  may  be  interesting  to  look  for 
a  moment  at  the  way  boys  did  their  work  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  years  ago.  Have  you  read  the  books  by  Elijah 
Kellogg  ?  The  reason  for  speaking  of  these  old-fashioned 
books  is  because  of  the  picture  they  give  of  the  time,  not 
so  very  long  ago,  when  boys  and  their  elders  made  all  sorts 
of  things  which  they  buy  to-day,  and  also  because  of  the 
good  idea  they  give  of  how  boys  got  along  generally  when 
they  had  to  shift  more  for  themselves  than  they  do  nowa- 
days. 

The  majority  of  the  boys  of  that  time,  not  merely  on 
Casco  Bay,  where  Mr.  Kellogg  places  the  scenes  of  his 
stories,  but  in  hundreds  of  other  places,  had  to  make  many 
things  themselves  or  go  without.  Of  course  there  was  a 
smaller  number  in  the  cities  and  larger  towns  who  had  no 
good  opportunity  to  make  things  and  were  obliged  to  buy 
what  they  could  afford  (out  of  what  we  should  call  a  quite 
limited  variety),  or  to  get  the  carpenter  or  other  mechanic 
to  make  what  they  needed.  But  the  majority  of  the  boys 
of  that  time  made  things  well  and  had  a  good  time  making 
them.  The  life  they  led  made  them  capital  "  all-round  " 
boys.  They  could  turn  their  hands,  and  their  heads  too, 
to  almost  any  kind  of  work,  and  do  it  pretty  well. 


4  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Boys  did  a  good  deal  of  whittling  then.  This  habit,  as 
you  doubtless  know,  still  clung  to  them  after  they  grew  up, 
and  opening  a  jack-knife  and  beginning  to  whittle  was  a 
common  diversion  whenever  the  men  rested,  whether  at  the 
country-store  or  in  the  barn  or  dooryard  or  at  their  own 
firesides.-  You  can  see  the  same  habit  to-day  in  some  places. 
The  boys  whittled  splint-brooms  of  birch  in  Colonial  days 
in  almost  every  household.1  Among  some  of  the  minor 
articles  made  by  boys  and  young  men  were  axe-helves  and 
handles  of  all  sorts,  wooden  rakes,  wooden  troughs  for  bread 
and  for  pigs,  trays,  trenchers,  flails,  rounds  for  ladders, 
bobbins,  reels,  cheese-boxes,  butter-spats  or  -paddles, 
wooden  traps,  and  dozens  of  other  articles,  not  to  speak  of 
their  handiwork  in  other  materials  than  wood. 

For  that  matter  much  of  the  same  life  can  be  found  to- 
day in  the  remoter  regions,  and  I  have  known  young  men 
brought  up  to  this  kind  of  life,  who  (within  my  recollection) 
have,  as  a  matter  of  course,  done  all  the  farm  work  of  good- 
sized  cultivated  farms  with  live  stock,  cut  and  hauled  wood 
from  their  wood-lots,  done  a  good  deal  of  sea-fishing  and 
salting  down  and  drying  of  fish,  tended  and  mended  their 

1  "  It  has  been  said  that  the  snow-shoe  and  canoe  as  made  by  the  Indians 
could  never  be  improved.  To  these  might  be  added  the  split  birch  broom,  or 
splinter  broom,  also  the  invention  of  the  Indians,  but  made  in  every  country 
household  in  New  England  in  Colonial  days.  The  branch  of  a  large  birch  tree 
was  cut  eight  feet  long.  An  inch-wide  band  of  the  bark  was  left  about  eighteen 
inches  from  one  end,  and  the  shorter  and  lower  end  was  cut  in  fine  pliable 
slivers  up  to  the  restraining  bark  band.  A  row  of  slivers  was  cut  from  the 
upper  end  downward,  turned  down  over  the  band,  and  tied  firmly  down.  Then 
the  remainder  of  the  stick  was  smoothed  into  a  handle.  These  brooms  were 
pliable,  cleanly,  and  enduring,  and  as  broom-corn  was  not  grown  here  until 
the  latter  part  of  the  past  century,  they  were,  in  fact,  the  only  brooms  of  those 
days.  They  were  made  by  boys  on  New  England  farms  for  six  cents  apiece, 
and  bought  by  the  country  storekeepers  in  large  numbers  for  the  cities'  use." — 
The  Chautauquan. 


Introductory  5 

fish-nets,  weirs,  and  lobster-traps,  and  sailed  or  rowed 
twenty-five  miles  to  market  with  their  produce  and  back 
again  with  their  supplies.  They  also  built  their  sheds, 
barns,  and  houses,  and  part  of  their  furniture,  their  dories, 
big  scows,  and  capital  sailboats;  made  their  own  oars  and 
rigged  their  boats;  made  many  of  their  farm  tools  and  im- 
plements; built  their  waggons  and  "  ironed  "  them,  their 
ox-sleds  and  small  sleds,  and  shod  them;  made  some  of 
their  tools;  did  their  own  blacksmithing,  mason-work,  brick- 
laying, and  painting;  made  their  own  shoes,  and  did  I  do 
not  know  how  many  other  odd  jobs — all  with  but  a  limited 
supply  of  common  hand-tools.  This  work  did  not  interfere 
with  their  going  to  school  through  the  winter  months  until 
they  were  twenty-one  years  old,  and  they  still  found  time 
for  the  usual  recreations  of  the  period. 

Now  a  young  man  must  have  been  pretty  well  developed 
after  going  through  all  that,  even  if  he  did  not  know  much 
about  Greek  or  calculus  or  was  lacking  in  superficial  polish. 
And  it  is  only  the  truth  to  say  that  quite  a  number  used  to 
tackle  the  higher  branches  of  study  too,  with  success  made 
all  the  more  assured  by  their  development  in  other  ways, 
and  many,  in  addition  to  all  this,  paid  their  way  through 
college  by  teaching  or  other  work.  How  did  they  do  sc 
much  ?  Partly,  I  suppose,  because  their  life  was  so  much 
simpler  and  less  complex  than  ours.  They  did  not  have  so 
many  wants  and  there  were  not  so  many  interests  to  distract 
their  minds.  Partly  because  when  they  wanted  something 
they  knew  they  must  make  it  or  go  without.  They  did 
not  draw  so  much  as  we  do  now,  but  they  did  a  great  deal 
of  observing.  They  examined  things  like  what  they  were, 
to  make  and  asked  questions,  and,  knowing  that  where 
they  had  so  much  to  do  they  could  not  afford  to  keep  trying 
things  again  and  again,  they  learned  from  their  relatives 


6  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

and  neighbours  what  was  considered  the  best  way  to  do 
their  work,  and  having  thought  it  out  carefully  they  went 
at  it  with  great  energy. 

To-day  we  have  only  to  go  to  a  large  factory  to  see  a 
man  standing  before  some  machine  and  doing  some  simple 
piece  of  work,  requiring  but  little  thought — the  same  thing 
over  and  over  again,  hour  after  hour,  day  after  day,  year 
after  year,  until  he  seems  to  become  almost  a  part  of  the 
machine  itself,  and  is  not  fitted  for  doing  much  else.  That 
is  the  other  extreme.  Of  course  we  get  things  cheaper 
(even  if  they  do  not  last  so  long)  because  of  the  factory ; 
but  how  about  the  workman  ?  Which  of  these  two  types 
is  the  better-developed  man  ?  First  you  want  to  be  well- 
developed  all-round  boys,  so  that  you  will  not  become 
machines  or  badly  one-sided  men.  After  that — each  to  his 
special  bent,  of  course. 

Now  because  we  no  longer  cut  down  trees  ourselves,  haul 
them  to  the  mill  to  be  sawed,  or  rive  or  saw  or  hew  them 
ourselves,  leave  the  wood  to  season,  and  then  laboriously 
work  it  up  into  whatever  we  have  to  make — because  we  no 
longer  do  that,  but  go  instead  to  a  lumber-yard  and  a  mill 
and  have  a  large  part  of  the  work  done  for  us — it  is  a  good 
thing  for  us  to  pause  a  moment  before  we  begin  our  work 
to  take  in  the  fact  that  all  the  advantage  is  not  with  us 
now,  and  to  think  what  a  capital  gymnasium  that  former  life 
was  for  strengthening  a  boy's  muscle  and  mind,  not  to 
speak  of  his  morals. 

You  could  not  go  back  to  those  days  now  if  you  wished 
to,  of  course  (except,  perhaps,  when  you  go  to  some  of  the 
remoter  regions  in  vacation),  and  you  are  doubtless  better 
off  for  all  the  advantages  you  have  now  and  for  all  our  time- 
saving  contrivances,  but  the  advantage  depends  partly  on 
how  you  use  the  time  saved  from  their  laborious  tasks,  does 


Introductory  7 

it  not?  You  can,  however,  get  inspiration  from  the  example 
of  those  older  boys  and  from  some  of  their  methods,  and 
can  put  their  self-reliant,  manly  zeal,  grit,  and  perseverance 
into  your  work,  and  have  a  capital  time  making  the  things 
and  more  sport  and  satisfaction  afterwards  for  having  made 
them. 

This  book  does  not  try  to  show  you  a  royal  road  or  a 
short  cut  to  proficiency  in  architecture,  carpentry,  cabinet- 
making,  boat-building,  toy-making,  or  any  other  art  or 
science.  It  does  not  aim  to  cram  you  with  facts,  but 
merely  to  start  you  in  the  right  way.  It  is  for  those  of 
you  who  want  to  take  off  your  coats,  roll  up  your  sleeves, 
and  really  make  things,  rather  than  sit  down  in  the  house 
and  be  amused  and  perhaps  deluded  by  reading  enthusiastic 
accounts  of  all  the  wonders  you  can  easily  do — or  which 
somebody  thinks  you  would  like  to  be  told  that  you  can 
do.  It  is  for  those  of  you  who  do  not  wish  to  have  your 
ardour  dampened  by  finding  that  things  will  not  come  out 
as  the  book  said  they  would,  or  that  the  very  things  you 
do  not  know  and  cannot  be  expected  to  know  are  left  out. 

It  does  not  aim  to  stir  up  your  enthusiasm  at  first  and 
then  perhaps  leave  you  in  the  lurch  at  the  most  important 
points.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  if  you  have  any  mechani- 
cal bent  or  interest  in  making  things,  as  most  boys  have,  and 
are  any  kind  of  a  real  live  boy,  you  have  the  enthusiasm  to 
start  with  without  stirring  up.  In  fact,  I  have  even  known 
boys,  and  possibly  you  may  have,  who,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  have  had  so  much  enthusiasm  to  make  something  or 
other  that  they  have  actually  had  to  be  held  back  lest  they 
should  spoil  all  the  lumber  within  reach  in  the  effort  to  get 
started ! 

What  you  want  is  to  be  told  how  to  go  to  work  in  the 
right  way — how  to  make  things  successfully  and  like  a  work- 


8  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

man — is  it  not  ?  Then,  if  you  mean  business,  as  I  feel  sure 
you  do,  and  really  want  to  make  things,  read  the  whole 
book  through  carefully,  even  if  it  is  not  bristling  with  in- 
teresting yarns  and  paragraphs  of  no  practical  application  to 
your  work.  You  will  not  find  everything  in  it,  but  you 
cannot  help  learning  something,  and  I  hope  you  will  find 
that  it  attends  strictly  to  the  business  in  hand  and  will  give 
you  a  start  in  the  right  direction, — which  is  half  the  battle. 


"  Man  is  a  Tool-using  Animal.  ...  He  can  use  Tools,  can  devise  Tools  ;  with  these 
the  granite  mountain  melts  into  light  dust  before  him  ;  he  kneads  glowing  iron  as  if  it  were 
soft  paste  ;  seas  are  his  smooth  highway,  winds  and  fire  his  unwearying  steeds.  Nowhere  do 
you  find  him  without  Tools ;  without  Tools  he  is  nothing— with  Tools  he  is  all."— CARLVLE, 
Sartor  Resartus. 


CHAPTER  II 

TOOLS 

YOU  can  do  a  great  deal  with  very  few  tools.  The  bear- 
ing of  this  observation  lies  in  "  the  application  on  it," 
as  Jack  Bunsby  would  say. 

Look  at  the  complicated  and  ingenious  curiosities  whittled 
with  a  jack-knife  by  sailors,  prisoners,  and  other  people  who 
have  time  to  kill  in  that  way !  Have  you  ever  seen  the 
Chinese  artisans  turning  out  their  wonderful  work  with  only 
a  few  of  the  most  primitive  tools  ?  But  of  course  we  can- 
not spend  time  so  lavishly  on  our  work  as  they  do,  even  if 
we  had  their  machine-like  patience  and  deftness  acquired 
through  so  many  generations. 

We  cannot  hold  work  with  our  feet  and  draw  saws  to- 
wards us  or  do  turning  out  on  the  lawn  with  a  few  sticks  and 
a  bit  of  rope  for  a  lathe;  carve  a  set  of  wonderful  open- 
work hollow  spheres,  each  within  the  other,  out  of  one  solid 
ball  of  ivory;  and  the  rest  of  the  queer  things  the  Orientals 
do:  but  it  is  merely  a  matter  of  national  individuality — the 
training  of  hundreds  of  generations.  We  could  learn  to  do 
such  things  after  a  long  time  doubtless,  but  with  no  such 
wonderful  adaptability  as  the  Japanese,  for  instance,  are 
showing,  in  learning  our  ways  in  one  generation. 

Examine  some  of  the  exquisite  work  which  the  Orientals 
sell  so  cheaply  and  think  whether  you  know  anyone  with 
skill  enough  to  do  it  if  he  had  a  whole  hardware-shop  full 

9 


10 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


of  tools,  and  then  see  with  what  few  simple  and  rude  tools 
(like  those  shown  in  the  following  illustrations,  or  the  simple 
drill,  Fig.  I,  still  in  use)  the  work 
has  been  done.  Mr.  Holtzapffel 
describes  the  primitive  apparatus  in 
use  among  the  natives  of  India  as 
follows ' : 


"  When  any  portion  of  household  fur- 
\\  niture  has  tobe  turned,  the  wood-turner 

f&M  is  sent  for;  he  comes  with  all  his  outfit 

^Sr  and  establishes  himself  for  the  occasion 

T  at  the  very  door  of  his  employer.     He 

commences  by  digging  two  holes  in  the 

ground  at  a  distance  suitable  to  the  length  of  the  work,  and  in  these 
he  fixes  two  short  wooden  posts,  securing  them  as  strongly  as  he 
can  by  ramming  the  earth  and  driving  in  wedges  and  stones  around 
them.  The  centres,  scarcely  more  than  round  nails  or  spikes,  are 
driven  through  the  posts  at  about  eight  inches  from  the  ground, 
and  a  wooden  rod,  for  the  support  of  the  tools,  is  either  nailed  to 
the  posts  or  tied  to  them  by  a  piece  of  coir  or  cocoanut  rope. 
The  bar,  if  long,  is  additionally  supported,  as  represented,  by 
being  tied  to  one  or  two  vertical  sticks  driven  into  the  ground. 
During  most  of  his  mechanical  operations  the  Indian  workman  is 
seated  on  the  ground,  hence  the  small  elevation  of  the  axes  of  his 
lathe.  The  boy  who  gives  motion  to  the  work  sits  or  kneels  on 
the  other  side  of  it,  holding  the  ends  of  the  cord  wrapped  around 
it  in  his  hands,  pulling  them  alternately;  the  cutting  being  re- 
stricted to  one  half  of  the  motion,  that  of  the  work  towards  the 
tool.  The  turning  tools  of  the  Indian  are  almost  confined  to  the 
chisel  and  gouge,  and  their  handles  are  long  enough  to  suit  his 
distant  position,  while  he  guides  their  cutting  edges  by  his  toes. 
He  grasps  the  bar  or  tool-rest  with  the  smaller  toes  and  places 

1  Quoted,  by  kind  permission,  from  Turning  and  Mechanical  Manipulation, 


Tools 


ii 


the  tool  between  the  large  toe  and  its  neighbour,  generally  out  of 
contact  with  the  bar.  The  Indian  and  all  other  turners  using 
the  Eastern  method  attain  a  high  degree  of  prehensile  power 
with  the  toes,  and  when  seated  at  their  work  not  only  always  use 
them  to  guide  the  tool,  but  will  select  indifferently  the  hand  or 
the  foot,  whichever  may  happen  to  be  the  nearer,  to  pick  up  or 
replace  any  small  tool  or  other  object.  The  limited  supply  of 


FIG.   2. 

tools  the  Indian  uses  for  working  in  wood  is  also  remarkable;  they 
are  of  the  most  simple  kind  and  hardly  exceed  those  represented 
in  Fig.  2;  the  most  essential  in  constructing  and  setting  up  his 
lathe  being  the  small,  single-handed  adze,  the  bassoolah.  With 
this  he  shapes  his  posts  and  digs  the  holes;  it  serves  on  all  occa- 
sions as  a  hammer  and  also  as  an  anvil  when  the  edge  is  for  a  time 
fixed  in  a  block  of  wood.  The  outer  side  of  the  cutting  edge  is 
perfectly  flat,  and  with  it  the  workman  will  square  or  face  a  beam 
pr  board  with  almost  as  much  precision  as  if  it  had  been  planed; 


i2  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

in  using  the  bassoolah  for  this  latter  purpose  the  work  is  generally 
placed  in  the  forked  stem  of  a  tree,  driven  into  the  ground  as 
shown  in  the  illustration." 

If  we  are  inclined  to  feel  proud  of  the  kind  of  woodwork 
turned  out  by  the  average  wood-worker  of  this  country  or 
England  with  his  great  variety  of  tools  and  appliances  and 
facilities,  we  might  compare  his  work  with  that  done  by  the 
Orientals  without  our  appliances.  Read  what  Professor 
Morse  tells  us  of  the  Japanese  carpenter  ' : 

"  His  trade,  as  well  as  other  trades,  has  been  perpetuated 
through  generations  of  families.  The  little  children  have  been 
brought  up  amidst  the  odour  of  fragrant  shavings, — have  with 
childish  hands  performed  the  duties  of  an  adjustable  vise  or 
clamp;  and  with  the  same  tools  which  when  children  they  have 
handed  to  their  fathers,  they  have  in  later  days  earned  their  daily 
rice.  When  I  see  one  of  our  carpenters'  ponderous  tool-chests, 
made  of  polished  woods,  inlaid  with  brass  decorations,  and  filled 
to  repletion  with  several  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  highly  polished 
and  elaborate  machine-made  implements,  and  contemplate  the 
work  often  done  with  them, — with  everything  binding  that  should 
go  loose,  and  everything  rattling  that  should  be  tight,  and  much 
work  that  has  to  be  done  twice  over,  with  an  indication  every- 
where of  a  poverty  of  ideas, — and  then  recall  the  Japanese  car- 
penter with  his  ridiculously  light  and  flimsy  tool-box  containing 
a  meagre  assortment  of  rude  and  primitive  tools, — considering 
the  carpentry  of  the  two  people,  I  am  forced  to  the  conviction 
that  civilisation  and  modern  appliances  count  as  nothing  unless 
accompanied  with  a  moiety  of  brains  and  some  little  taste  and 
wit.  .  .  .  After  having  seen  the  good  and  serviceable  car- 
pentry, the  perfect  joints  and  complex  mortises,  done  by  good 
Japanese  workmen,  one  is  astonished  to  find  that  they  do  their 

1  Quoted,  by  kind  permission,  from  the  valuable  and  entertaining  work  on 
Japanese  Homes  and  their  Surroundings  (copyright,  1885),  by  EdwardS.  Morse. 


Tools 


work  without  the  aid  of  certain  appliances  considered  indispens- 
able by  similar  craftsmen  in  our  country.  They  have  no  bench, 
no  vise,  no  spirit-level,  and  no  bit-stock;  and 
as  for  labour-saving  machinery,  they  have 
absolutely  nothing.  With  many  places  which 
could  be  utilised  for  water-power,  the  old 
country  saw-mill  has  not  occurred  to  them. 
Their  tools  appear  to  be  roughly  made  and  of 
primitive  design,  though  evidently  of  the 
best-tempered  steel.  The  only  substitute  for 
the  carpenter's  bench  is  a  plank  on  the  floor, 
or  on  two  horses;  a  square,  firm,  upright  post 
is  the  nearest  approach  to  a  bench  and  vise, 
for  to  this  beam  a  block  of  wood  to  be  sawed 
into  pieces  is  firmly  held  (Fig.  3).  A  big 
wooden  wedge  is  bound  firmly  to 
the  post  with  a  stout  rope,  and  this 
driven  down  with  vigorous  blows 
till  it  pinches  the  block  which  is 
to  be  cut  into  the  desired  propor- 
tions. 

"  In  using  many  of  the  tools, 
the  Japanese  car- 
penter handles  them 
quite  differently 
from  our  workman ; 
for  instance,  he 
draws  the  plane 
towards  him  instead 
of  pushing  it  from 
him.  The  planes 
are  very  rude-looking  implements.  Their  bodies,  instead  of  being 
thick  blocks  of  wood,  are  quite  wide  and  thin  (Fig.  4,  D,  E), 
and  the  blades  are  inclined  at  a  greater  angle  than  the  blade  in 
our  plane.  In  some  planes,  however,  the  blade  stands  vertical; 


FIG.  3. — A  JAPANESE  CARPENTER  S  VISE. 
From  Morse's  Japanese  Homes. 


1 4  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

this  is  used  in  lieu  of  the  steel  scrapers  in  giving  wood  a  smooth 
finish,  and  might  be  used  with  advantage  by  our  carpenters  as  a 
substitute  for  the  piece  of  glass  or  thin  plate  of  steel  with  which 
they  usually  scrape  the  surface  of  the  wood.  A  huge  plane  is 
often  seen,  five  or  six  feet  long.  This  plane,  however,  is  fixed 
in  an  inclined  position,  upside  down;  that  is,  with  the  blade 


FIG.  4. 


CARPENTERS     TOOLS    IN    COMMON    USE. 
From  Morse's  Japanese  Homes. 


uppermost.  The  board,  or  piece  to  be  planed,  is  moved  back 
and  forth  upon  it.  Draw-shaves  are  in  common  use.  The  saws 
are  of  various  kinds,  with  teeth  much  longer  than  those  of  our 
saws,  and  cut  in  different  ways.  .  .  .  Some  saws  have  teeth 
on  the  back  as  well  as  on  the  front,  one  edge  being  used  as  a 
cross-cut  saw  (Fig.  4,  B,  C).  The  hand-saw,  instead  of  having 
the  curious  loop-shaped  handle  made  to  accommodate  only  one 
hand,  as  with  us,  has  a  simple  straight  cylindrical  handle  as  long 


Tools  15 

as  the  saw  itself,  and  sometimes  longer.  Our  carpenters  engage 
one  hand  in  holding  the  stick  to  be  sawed  while  driving  the  saw 
with  the  other  hand;  the  Japanese  carpenter,  on  the  contrary, 
holds  the  piece  with  his  foot,  and  stooping  over,  with  his  two 
hands  drives  the  saw  by  quick  and  rapid  cuts  through  the  wood. 
This  style  of  working  and  doing  many  other  things  could  never 
be  adopted  in  this  country  without  an  importation  of  Japanese 
backs.  .  .  .  The  adze  is  provided  with  a  rough  handle  bend- 
ing considerably  at  the  lower  end,  not  unlike  a  hockey-stick 
(Fig.  4,  A).  .  .  .  For  drilling  holes  a  very  long-handled  awl 
is  used.  The  carpenter  seizing  the  handle  at  the  end,  between 
the  palms  of  his  hands,  and  moving  his  hands  rapidly  back  and 
forth,  pushing  down  at  the  same  time,  the  awl  is  made  rapidly 
to  rotate  back  and  forth;  as  his  hands  gradually  slip  down  on  the 
handle  he  quickly  seizes  it  at  the  upper  end  again,  continuing 
the  motion  as  before.  One  is  astonished  to  see  how  rapidly  holes 
are  drilled  in  this  simple  yet  effective  way.  For  large  holes, 
augers  similar  to  ours  are  used." 

When  you  are  obliged  to  work  some  day  with  few  and 
insufficient  tools  (as  most  workmen  are  at  times),  you  will 
quickly  realise  how  much  you  can  do  with  very  few  in  case 
of  necessity,  and  will  "more  fully  appreciate  the  skill  of  those 
Eastern  people  who  do  so  much  with  so  little.  We  do  not 
need  so  many  hand-tools  for  woodwork  as  our  grandfathers 
and  our  great-grandfathers,  although  we  make  a  greater 
variety  of  things,  because  machinery  now  does  so  much  of 
the  work  for  us.  Wood-workers  of  fifty  years  ago  had,  for 
instance,  dozens  of  planes  for  cutting  all  sorts  of  grooves, 
mouldings,  and  the  like,  which  are  now  worked  by  machine 
at  the  nearest  mill. 

Suggestions  about  Buying. — Do  not  start  in  by  buying 
a  chest  of  tools,  certainly  not  one  of  the  small  cheap  sets. 
They  are  not  necessarily  poor,  but  are  very  apt  to  be.  Get 


1 6  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

a  few  tools  at  a  time  as  you  need  them.     In  that  way  you 
will  get  all  you  need  in  the  most  satisfactory  way. 

Besides  the  fact  that  you  can  do  good  work  with  few  tools 
there  are  various  reasons  which  make  it  better  to  begin  with 
but  few.  You  will  probably  take  better  care  of  a  few  than 
of  many.  If  you  have  thirty  chisels  on  the  rack  before  you 
and  you  make  a  nick  in  the  end  of  the  one  you  are  using, 
there  is  a  strong  chance  that  instead  of  stopping  to  sharpen 
it  you  will  lay  it  aside  and  take  one  of  the  remaining  twenty- 
nine  that  will  answer  your  purpose,  and  before  you  realise 
it  have  a  whole  rack  full  of  dull  tools.  If  you  have  but  few 
chisels,  you  will  be  compelled  to  sharpen  them,  and  so  get 
into  the  habit  of  taking  proper  care  of  them — not  to  speak 
of  the  time  which  is  often  wasted  in  putting  away  one  tool 
and  selecting  another  unnecessarily. 

The  longer  you  work  the  more  you  will  get  to  rely  on  a 
small  number  of  tools  only,  however  many  you  may  have  at 
hand  for  occasional  use.  After  you  have  worked  for  some 
time  you  will  be  very  likely  to  have  your  favourite  tools, 
and  find  that  certain  tools  do  better  work  in  your  hands 
than  certain  others  which  perhaps  someone  else  would  use 
for  the  purpose,  and  you  will  naturally  favour  the  use  of 
those  particular  implements,  which  is  another  less  important 
reason  for  not  starting  in  with  too  great  a  variety.  I  do 
not  mean  that  you  will  imagine  you  can  do  better  with  one 
tool  than  another,  but  that  you  really  can  do  so.  That  is 
where  individuality  comes  in — the  "  personal  equation." 

Watch  a  skilful  carver  at  a  piece  of  ordinary  work.  See 
how  few  tools  he  spreads  before  him,  and  how  much  he 
does  with  the  one  in  his  hand  before  he  lays  it  down  for 
another.  You  would  think  it  would  take  twenty-five  tools, 
perhaps,  to  cut  such  a  design,  but  the  carver  may  have  only 
about  half  a  dozen  before  him.  He  gets  right  into  the  spirit 


Tools  1 7 

of  what  he  is  doing,  and  somehow  or  other  he  does  ever  so 
many  things  with  the  tool  in  his  hand  in  less  time  and  carries 
out  his  idea  better  than  if  he  kept  breaking  off  to  select 
others. 

This  shows  that  confidence  in  the  use  of  a  tool  goes  a 
long  way  toward  the  execution  of  good  work,  which  is  one 
reason  for  learning  to  use  a  few  tools  well  and  making  them 
serve  for  all  the  uses  to  which  they  can  advantageously  be 
put.  In  short,  if  you  have  but  few  tools  at  first  you  get 
the  most  you  can  out  of  each  tool  and  in  the  way  best  for 
yourself. 

Now  I  do  not  mean  by  all  this  that  it  is  not  a  good  thing 
to  have  a  large  kit  of  tools,  or  that  you  should  not  have  the 
proper  tools  for  the  various  operations,  and  use  them.  I 
mean  that  you  should  get  your  tools  gradually  as  you  find 
that  you  need  them  to  do  your  work  as  it  should  be  done, 
and  not  get  a  lot  in  advance  of  needing  them  just  because 
they  seem  to  be  fine  things  to  have,  or  because  some  car- 
penter has  them  in  his  chest. 

Do  not  place  too  much  reliance  on  the  lists  of  tools  which 
you  find  in  books  and  magazines — the  "  tools  necessary  for 
beginners,"  "  a  list  of  tools  for  boys,"  etc.  Such  lists  are 
necessarily  arbitrary.  To  make  a  short  list  that  would  be 
thoroughly  satisfactory  for  such  varied  work  as  a  boy  or 
amateur  may  turn  his  hand  to  is  about  as  impracticable  as 
the  attempts  you  sometimes  see  to  name  the  twenty-five 
greatest  or  best  men  or  the  one  hundred  best  books.  When 
you  can  find  half  a  dozen  independent  lists  which  agree  it 
will  be  time  enough  to  begin  to  pin  your  faith  to  them. 
The  most  experienced  or  learned  people  cannot  agree  ex- 
actly in  such  matters.  It  depends  somewhat,  for  one  thing, 
on  what  kind  of  work  you  begin  with,  and,  of  course,  some- 
what upon  yourself  also. 


1 8  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Now  while,  as  we  have  seen,  most  wonderful  work  can  be 
done  with  the  most  primitive  tools,  the  fact  remains  that 
you  are  neither  Chinese  nor  Japanese,  but  Americans  and 
English,  and  you  cannot  work  to  the  best  advantage  with- 
out certain  tools.  fc  Well,  what  are  they  ?  Why  don't 
you  give  us  a  list  to  begin  with  ?  That 's  what  we  are  look- 
ing for."  Simply  because  a  quite  varied  experience  has 
taught  me  to  think  it  better  to  give  you  suggestions  to  help 
you  make  the  selection  for  yourselves. 

Just  as  the  great  majority  of  boys  would  agree  upon 
Robinson  Crusoe,  for  instance,  as  belonging  in  the  front  rank 
of  boys'  books,  but  would  make  very  different  selections  of 
second-rate  or  third-rate  books,  so  there  are  a  few  "  univer- 
sal "  tools,  upon  the  importance  of  which  all  agree,  such  as 
the  saw,  hammer,  hatchet  or  axe,  and  a  few  others;  but 
beyond  these  few  you  can  have  as  many  "  lists  "  as  you  can 
find  people  to  make  them,  up  to  the  point  of  including  all 
you  are  likely  to  want.  So  let  your  list  make  itself  as  you 
go  along,  according  to  your  own  needs. 

It  is  safe  to  say,  however,  that  if  your  work  is  to  be  at  all 
varied,  such  as  is  given  in  this  book,  for  instance,  you  can- 
not get  along  to  good  advantage  for  any  length  of  time 
without  a  rule,  a  try-square ,  a  straight-edge,  a  knife,  two  or 
three  chisels,  a  hatchet,  a  gouge,  a  smoot king-plane,  a  spoke- 
shave,  a  panel-saw,  a  hammer  and  nail-set,  a  bit-brace  and 
three  or  four  bits  (tzvist -drills  are  good  for  the  smaller  sizes), 
a  countersink,  a  few  bradawls  and  gimlets,  a  screw-driver,  a 
rasp  and  half-round  file  for  wood,  a  three-cornered  file  for 
metal,  an  oil-stone,  a  glue-pot;  An  excellent  and  cheap 
combination  tool  for  such  work  as  you  will  do  can  be  bought 
almost  anywhere  under  the  name  of  "  odd  jobs.1'  Of 
course  you  will  need  nails,  screws,  sandpaper,  glue,  oil,  and 
such  supplies,  which  you  can  buy  as  you  need  them.  A 


Tools  19 

section  (18  inches  or  20  inches  high)  from  the  trunk  of  a 
tree  is  very  useful  for  a  chopping-block,  or  any  big  junk  of 
timber  can  be  used. 

You  will,  however,  quickly  feel  the  need  of  a  few  more 
tools  to  do  your  work  to  better  advantage,  and  according 
to  the  kind  of  work  you  are  doing  you  will  add  some  of  the 
following:  a  fore-plane,  a  splitting-saw,  a  mallet,  a  back-saw, 
compasses,  one  or  more  firmer  chisels,  one  or  more  framing- 
chisels,  a  block-plane,  pincers,  a  gauge  or  two,  one  or  more 
gouges,  a  steel  square,  a  draiv-knife,  a  large  screw-driver,  a 
scraper,  a  few  hand-screws  (or  iron  clamps],  a  few  more  bits, 
gimlets,  bradawls,  or  drills,  cutting -pliers  or  nippers,  a 
bevel,  a  jointer  (plane),  a  wrench.  An  iron  mitre-box  is 
useful  but  rather  expensive,  and  you  can  get  along  with 
the  wooden  one  described  further  on.  A  grindstone  is,  of 
course,  essential  when  you  get  to  the  point  of  sharpening 
your  tools  yourself,  but  you  can  have  your  tools  ground 
or  get  the  use  of  a  stone  without  having  to  buy  one  for  a 
long  time. 

The  following  list  makes  a  fair  outfit  for  nearly  and  some- 
times all  the  work  the  average  amateur  is  likely  to  do,  ex- 
cepting the  bench  appliances  and  such  contrivances  as  you 
will  make  yourselves  and  the  occasional  addition  of  a  bit  or 
chisel  or  gouge  or  file,  etc.,  of  some  other  size  or  shape 
when  needed.  This  is  not  a  list  to  start  with,  of  course, 
unless  you  can  afford  it,  for  you  can  get  along  for  a  good 
while  with  only  a  part,  nor  is  it  a  complete  list,  but  merely 
one  with  which  a  great  amount  of  useful  work  can  be  done 
to  good  advantage.  You  can  always  add  to  it  for  special 
purposes. 

For  further  remarks  about  these  tools  and  others  and 
their  uses,  see  Part  V.,  where  they  will  be  found  alphabeti- 
cally arranged. 


20  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


i  two-foot  rule, 
i  try-square  (metal-bound). 
i  pair  of  wing  compasses, 
i  marking-gauge. 
i  mortise-gauge, 
i  steel  square  (carpenter's  fram- 
ing-square), 
i  bevel, 
i  "  odd  jobs." 
i  chalk-line  and  chalk. 

1  knife. 

5  firmer  chisels  (^",  ^*,  £*,  •§•*, 

2  framing-  or  mortising-chisels 

3  gouge's  U*,r,  i'). 

i  iron  spoke-shave  (adjustable). 

i  draw-knife. 

i  hatchet. 

i  block-plane. 

i  smoothing-plane. 

i  long  fore-plane  (or  a  jointer). 

i  jack-plane. 

i  rabbet-plane  (f  or  -J"  square). 

i    cutting-off    saw  (panel-saw, 

i  splitting-saw  (26"). 
i  back-saw(i2"). 
i  turning-saw  (14"). 

An  adjustable  iron  mitre-box 
this  list,  and  a  grindstone  is  of 
your  grinding  done. 

A  few  carver's  tools  are  also 
afford  them,  as  a  skew-chisel  (%" 
veining-tool. 


s    compass    and    key-hole   saw 

(combined), 
i  bit-brace. 

3  auger-bits  (£*,  £*,  iff). 
3  twist-drills  (£',  T3/,  ±')- 
A  few  bradawls  and  gimlets, 
i  screw-driver  for  bit-brace, 
i  countersink. 

1  hammer  and  2  nail-sets. 

2  screw-drivers  (different  sizes). 
Files    of    several    kinds    (flat, 

three-cornered,  and  round 
for  metal,  and  half-round 
and  round  for  wood). 

i  large  half-round  rasp. 

i  cabinet  scraper  and  burn- 
isher. 

i  mallet. 

i  pair  cutting-pliers. 

i  pair  of  pincers. 

i  wrench. 

1  oil-stone  and  oiler. 

2  or  3  oil-stone  slips  (different 

shapes). 

1  glue-pot. 

2  or  more  iron  clamps. 

2  or  more  wooden  hand-screws. 
2  or  more  cabinet  clamps  (2'  to 

4')- 

will  be  a  valuable  addition  to 
use  even  when  you  get  most  of 

convenient  at  times  if  you  can 
I,  a  parting-tool  (£*),  and  a  small 


Tools  21 

General  supplies,  such  as  nails,  screws,  glue,  etc.,  specified  in 
Part  V.,  will  of  course  be  required. 

There  are  still  more  tools  than  those  given  above,  as  you 
doubtless  know,  but  by  the  time  you  have  become  workman 
enough  to  need  more  you  will  know  what  you  need.  Ploughs, 
matching-planes,  and  all  such  implements  are  omitted, 
because  il  is  better  and  usually  as  cheap  to  get  such  work 
as  they  do  done  by  machine  at  a  mill.  I  also  assume  that 
all  your  heavy  sawing  and  planing  will  be  done  at  some 
mill.  It  is  not  worth  while  for  the  amateur  to  undertake 
the  sawing  and  planing  of  large  pieces,  the  hewing  and 
splitting  of  the  rougher  branches  of  woodwork,  for  such 
work  can  be  done  almost  anywhere  by  machine  at  very  slight 
expense,  and  stock  can  be  bought  already  got  out  and  planed 
for  but  a  trifle  more  than  the  cost  of  the  wood  alone.1 

Be  sure  to  get  good  tools.  There  is  a  saying  that  a  good 
workman  is  known  by  his  tools,  and  another  that  a  poor 
workman  is  always  complaining  of  his  tools,  that  is,  excus- 
ing his  own  incompetence  by  throwing  the  blame  upon  his 
tools.  There  is  also  another  saying  to  the  effect  that  a  good 
workman  can  work  with  poor  tools;  but  it  is  simply  because 
he  is  a  skilled  and  ingenious  workman  that  he  can  if  neces- 
sary often  do  good  work  in  spite  of  inferior  tools,  and  of 
course  he  could  do  the  same  work  more  easily  and  quickly, 
if  not  better,  with  good  ones. 

So  do  not  think  that  because  you  sometimes  see  a  skilled 
workman  making  shift  with  poor  tools  that  you  are  justified 
in  beginning  in  that  way,  for  a  beginner  should  use  only  good 

1  If  you  are  so  situated,  as  possibly  a  few  of  you  may  be,  that  you  cannot 
get  the  benefit  of  modern  methods,  but  must  do  all  the  rough  work  that  your 
grandfathers  did,  you  will  require  a  few  additional  tools,  but  these  you  can 
readily  select  from  the  descriptions  given  farther  on. 


22  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

tools  and  in  good  condition  or  he  may  never  become  a 
good  workman  at  all,  so  make  your  tools  and  their  care  a 
matter  of  pride.  If  your  tools  are  of  good  quality,  and 
proper  care  is  taken  of  them,  they  will  last  a  lifetime  and 
longer;  so  good  tools  prove  the  cheapest  in  the  end.1 
There  are  some  cases,  however,  in  which  it  is  as  well  not 
to  buy  the  most  expensive  tools  at  first,  as  a  cheap  rule  will 
do  as  well  as  an  expensive  one,  considering  how  likely  you 
are  to  break  or  lose  it,  and  a  cheap  gauge  will  answer  quite 
well  for  a  good  while;  but  this  does  not  affect  the  truth  of 
the  general  statement  that  you  should  get  only  the  best 
tools.  There  are  also  quite  a  number  of  tools,  appliances, 
and  makeshifts  which  you  can  make  for  yourselves,  some  of 
which  will  be  described.  I  advise  you  not  to  pick  up  tools 
at  second-hand  shops,  auctions,  or  junk  shops,  except  with 
the  assistance  of  some  competent  workman. 

Care  of  Tools. — Keep  your  tools  in  good  order.  You 
cannot  do  nice,  fine,  clean  work  with  a  dull  tool.  A  sharp 
tool  will  make  a  clean  cut,  but  a  dull  edge  will  tear  or  crush 
the  fibres  and  not  leave  a  clean-cut  surface.  You  can  work 
so  much  more  easily  and  quickly  as  well  as  satisfactorily  with 
sharp  tools  that  the  time  it  takes  to  keep  them  in  order  is 
much  less  than  you  lose  in  working  with  dull  ones,  not  to 
speak  of  the  waste  of  strength  and  temper. 

I  assume  that  you  will  not  attempt  to  sharpen  your  tools 
yourselves  until  you  have  had  considerable  experience  in 

1  There  are  many  reliable  makers  of  tools.  Among  them  the  following  can 
be  named,  and  their  tools  can  be  obtained  almost  anywhere  :  Saws — Henry 
Disston.  Chisels  and  gouges — Moulson  Bros.;  Buck  Bros.  Planes — Stanley  ; 
Moulson  Bros,  (plane-irons)  ;  Wm.  Butcher  (do.) ;  Buck  Bros,  (do.)  Files — 
P.  S.  Stubs.  Rules  and  squares,  levels,  gauges,  spoke-shaves,  etc. — Stanley 
Rule  &  Level  Co.  Braces — Barber.  Bits — Jennings.  Knives  (sloid)  — 
Taylor.  Carving  tools — Addis  ;  Buck  ;  Taylor. 


Tools  23 

using  them ;  for  sharpening  tools  (particularly  saws  and 
planes)  is  very  hard  for  boys  and  amateurs,  and  not  easy  to 
learn  from  a  book.  So,  until  then,  be  sure  to  have  them 
sharpened  whenever  they  become  dull.  The  expense  is 
but  slight,  and  it  is  much  better  to  have  fewer  tools  kept 
sharp  than  to  spend  the  money  for  more  tools  and  have 
them  dull.  When  you  get  to  the  point  of  sharpening  your 
tools,  one  lesson  from  a  practical  workman  or  even  a  little 
time  spent  in  watching  the  operations  (which  you  can  do  eas- 
ily) will  help  you  more  than  reading  many  pages  from  any 
book.  So  I  advise  you  to  get  instruction  in  sharpening  from 
some  practical  workman, — not  at  first,  but  after  you  have 
got  quite  handy  with  the  tools.  You  can  easily  do  this  at 
little  or  no  expense.  For  further  points,  see  Sharpening, 
in  Part  V. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  soak  tool  handles,  mallets,  and 
wooden  planes,  when  new,  for  a  week  or  so  in  raw  linseed 
oil  and  then  rub  them  with  a  soft  rag  every  day  or  two 
for  a  while.  If  you  use  wooden  planes  give  them  a  good 
soaking.  They  will  absorb  much  oil  and  work  more  freely 
and  smoothly.  You  can  save  tool  handles  from  being  split 
by  pounding,  by  sawing  the  ends  off  square  and  fastening  on 
two  round  disks  of  sole-leather  in  the  way  adopted  by  shoe- 
makers. If  there  is  any  tendency  to  dampness  in  your  shop 
the  steel  and  iron  parts  of  the  tools  should  be  greased  with 
a  little  fat, — tallow,  lard,  wax,  vaseline, — or  some  anti-rust 
preparation. 

Use  of  Tools. — It  is  very  important  to  get  started  right  in 
using  tools.  If  your  first  idea  of  what  the  tool  is  for  and 
how  it  should  be  used  is  correct  you  will  get  along  nicely 
afterwards,  but  if  you  start  with  a  wrong  impression  you  will 
have  to  unlearn,  which  is  always  hard,  and  start  afresh. 


24  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

If  you  can  go  to  a  good  wood-working  school  you  will  of 
course  learn  much,  and  if  you  know  a  good-natured  carpen- 
ter or  cabinet-maker  or  any  wood-worker  of  the  old-fashioned 
kind,  cultivate  his  acquaintance.  If  he  is  willing  to  let  you 
watch  his  work  and  to  answer  your  questions  you  can  add 
much  to  your  knowledge  of  the  uses  of  the  different  tools.  In 
fact,  so  far  as  instruction  goes  that  is  about  all  the  teaching 
the  average  apprentice  gets.  He  learns  by  observing  and 
by  practice.  Do  not  be  afraid  or  ashamed  to  ask  questions. 
Very  few  men  will  refuse  to  answer  an  amateur's  questions 
unless  they  are  unreasonably  frequent.  There  will  be  prob- 
lems enough  to  exercise  all  the  ingenuity  you  have  after  you 
have  learned  what  you  can  from  others. 

But  the  day  for  the  all-round  workman  seems  to  be 
rapidly  passing  away  and  the  tendency  nowadays  is  for 
each  workman,  instead  of  spending  years  in  learning  the 
various  branches  and  details  of  his  trade,  to  be  expert  in 
only  one  very  limited  branch — or,  as  sometimes  happens,  a 
general  botch  in  all  the  branches ;  so  unless  you  find  a  real 
mechanic  for  a  friend  (such  as  an  old  or  middle-aged  village 
carpenter,  or  cabinet-maker,  or  wheelwright,  or  boat-builder, 
or  carver),  be  a  little  guarded  about  believing  all  he  tells 
or  shows  you  ;  and  beware  of  relying  implicitly  on  the  teach- 
ings of  the  man  who  "  knows  it  all  "  and  whom  a  season's 
work  at  nailing  up  studding  and  boarding  has  turned  into 
a  full-fledged  "  carpenter." 

If  you  can  learn  to  use  your  tools  with  either  hand  you  will 
often  find  it  a  decided  advantage,  as  in  getting  out  crooked 
work,  or  particularly  in  carving,  where  you  have  such  an 
endless  variety  of  cuts  to  be  made  in  almost  every  possible 
direction,  but  "  that  is  another  story."  A  bad  habit  and  one 
to  guard  against  is  that  of  carrying  with  you  the  tool  you 
may  be  using  whenever  you  leave  your  work  temporarily, 


Tools  25 

instead  of  laying  it  down  where  you  are  working.  Edge-tools 
are  dangerous  things  to  carry  around  in  the  hand  and  there  is 
also  much  chance  of  their  being  mislaid. 

For  directions  for  using  the  different  tools  see  Part  V. 

Edge-Tools. — Bear  in  mind  that  all  cutting  tools  work 
more  or  less  on  the  principle  of  the  wedge.  So  far  as  the  mere 
cutting  is  concerned  a  keen  edge  is  all  that  is  required  and 
your  knife  or  other  cutting  tool  might  be  as  thin  as  a  sheet  of 
paper.  But  of  course  such  a  tool  would  break,  so  it  must  be 
made  thicker  for  strength  and  wedge-shaped  so  that  it  may 
be  pushed  through  the  wood  as  easily  as  possible. 

You  know  that  you  can  safely  use  a  very  thin  knife  to  cut 
butter  because  the  butter  yields  so  easily  that  there  is 
not  much  strain  on  the  blade,  but  that  when  you  cut  wood 
the  blade  must  be  thicker  to  stand  the  strain  of  being  pushed 
through.  Soft  wood  cuts  more  easily  than  hard,  because  it 
is  more  easily  pushed  aside  or  compressed  by  the  wedge- 
shaped  tool,  and  it  does  not  matter  how  keen  the  edge  may 
be  if  the  resistance  of  the  wood  is  so  great  that  you  cannot 
force  the  thicker  part  of  the  tool  through  it. 

You  will  understand  from  all  this  that  the  more  acute  the 
angle  of  the  cutting  edge  the  more  easily  it  will  do  its  work, 
provided  always  that  the  angle  is  obtuse  or  blunt  enough  to 
give  the  proper  strength  to  the  end  of  the  tool  ;  and  also  that 
as  the  end  of  the  tool  encounters  more  resistance  in  hard 
than  soft  wood,  the  angle  should  be  more  obtuse  or  blunter 
for  the  former  than  for  the  latter.  Theoretically,  therefore, 
the  angle  of  the  cutting  edge,  to  obtain  the  greatest  possible 
advantage,  would  need  to  be  changed  with  every  piece 
of  wood  and  every  kind  of  cut,  but  practically  all  that  can  be 
done  is  to  have  a  longer  bevel  on  the  tools  for  soft  wood 
than  for  hard.  Experience  and  observation  will  teach  these 
angles.  See  Sharpening  in  Part  V. 


26 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  5. 


When  you   cut  off  a  stout   stick,  as  the  branch  of  a  tree, 
you  do  not  try  to  force  your  knife  straight  across  with  one 

cut.  You  cut  a  small 
notch  and  then  widen 
and  deepen  it  by  cut- 
ting first  on  one  side 
and  then  on  the  other 
(Fig-  5)-  The  wood 
yields  easily  to  the 
wedge  on  the  side  to- 
wards the  notch,  so 
that  the  edge  can 
easily  cut  deeper,  and 
thus  the  notch  is 
gradually  cut  through 
the  stick.  The  same 
principle  is  seen  in 
cutting  down  a  tree 
with  an  axe.  You 
have  only  to  look  at 
the  structure  of  a 
piece  of  wood  when 
magnified,  as  roughly 
indicated  in  Fig.  6,  to 
see  why  it  is  easier  to 
cut  with  the  grain 
than  across  it. 

You  can  often  cut 
better  with  a  draw- 
stroke,  i.  e.,  not  mere- 

FIG-  7>  ly   pushing    the   tool 

straight    ahead,    but 
drawing  it  across  sideways  at  the  same  time  (Fig.  7).     You 


Tools  27 

can  press  the  sharp  edge  of  a  knife  or  razor  against  your 
hand  without  cutting,  but  draw  the  edge  across  and  you 
will  be  cut  at  once.  Even  a  blade  of  grass  will  cut  if  you 
draw  the  edge  quickly  through  your  hand,  as  you  doubtless 
know. 

If  you  try  to  push  a  saw  down  into  a  piece  of  wood,  as 
you  push  a  knife  down  through  a  lump  of  butter,  or  as  in 
chopping  with  a  hatchet,  that  is,  without  pushing  and  pulling 
the  saw  back  and  forth,  it  will  not  enter  the  wood  to  any 
extent,  but  when  you  begin  to  work  it  back  and  forth  it  cuts 
(or  tears)  its  way  into  the  wood  at  once.  You  know  how  much 
better  you  can  cut  a  slice  of  fresh  bread  when  you  saw  the 
knife  back  and  forth  than  when  you  merely  push  it  straight 
down  through  the  loaf.  You  may  have  noticed  (and  you 
may  not)  how  much  better  your  knife  will  cut,  and  that  the 
cut  will  be  cleaner,  in  doing  some  kinds  of  whittling,  when 
you  draw  it  through  the  wood  from  handle  to  point  (Fig.  7), 
instead  of  pushing  it  straight  through  in  the  common  way, 
and  you  will  discover,  if  you  try  cutting  various  substances, 
that  as  a  general  rule  the  softer  the  material  the  greater  the 
advantage  in  the  draw-stroke. 

Now  put  the  sharpest  edge-tool  you  can  find  under  a 
powerful  microscope,  and  you  will  see  that  the  edge,  instead 
of  being  so  very  smooth,  is  really  quite  ragged, — a  sort  of 
saw-like  edge.  Then  look  at  the  structure  of  a  piece  of 
wood  as  roughly  indicated  in  Fig.  6,  and  you  will  understand 
at  once  just  what  we  do  when  we  cut  wood  with  an  edge-tool. 
You  see  the  microscopically  small  sticks  or  tubes  or  bundles 
of  woody  fibre  of  which  the  big  stick  is  composed,  and 
you  also  see  the  microscopically  fine  saw  to  cut  them.  Now 
if  the  edge  of  the  tool  is  fine  you  can  often  do  the  work 
satisfactorily  by  simply  pushing  the  tool  straight  through 
the  wood,  but  do  you  not  see  that  if  you  can  draw  or  slide 


28 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


the  tool  either  back  or  forth  the  edge,  being  saw-like,  will 
do  its  work  better  ? 

This  stroke  cannot  be  used  of  course  in  chopping  with 
the  axe  or  hatchet,  splitting  kindling-wood,  or  splitting  a  stick 
with  the  grain  with  a  knife  or  chisel.  In  these  operations 
the  main  principle  is  that  of  the  wedge,  pure  and  simple, 
driven  through  by  force,  the  keen  edge  merely  starting  the  cut, 


FIG. 


after  which  the  wedge  does  the  rest  of  the  work  by  bearing 
so  hard  against  the  wood  at  the  sides  of  the  cut  that  it  forces 
it  to  split  in  advance  of  the  cutting  edge,  as  in  riving  a  log 
by  the  use  first  of  an  axe,  then  of  an  iron  wedge,  and  finally 
a  large  wooden  wedge  (Fig.  8). 

Practical  directions  and  suggestions  about  the  different 
Tools  and  their  Uses  and  the  various  Operations  will  be  found 
alphabetically  arranged  in  Part  V. 


CHAPTER   III 


WOOD 

BEFORE  you  can  make  anything  successfully,  you  must 
have  not  merely  wood,  but  the  right  kind  of  wood  for 
the  purpose.  There  are,  also,  "  choice  cuts  "  in  lumber,  as 
the  butcher  says  of  meat,  and  judicious  selection  of  the 
stock  often  makes  all  the  difference  between  a  good  job  and 
a  poor  one  ;  so  let  us  examine  a  log 
and  follow  it  through  the  sawmill. 
You  have,  of  course,  seen  the 
rings,  or  circular  lines,  on  the  ends 
of  pieces  of  wood  (Fig.  9).  These 
are  called  the  annual  rings,1  and 
each  ring  marks  a  new  layer  of 
wood  added  to  the  tree,  for,  as 
perhaps  you  may  have  learned,  the 
trees  we  use  for  wood-working 
grow  by  adding  new  layers  of  wood 


FIG.  9. 


on  the-  outside.  Examine  the  ends  of  pieces  of  wood  of 
various  kinds.  In  some  pieces  these  rings  will  be  very 
plain.  In  others  they  will  be  quite  indistinct. 

Notice  that  the  wood  nearest  the  bark,  known  as  the  sap- 
wood,  usually  looks  different  from  the  inner  wood,  which  is 
called  the  heart  (Fig.  9). 

In  some  trees  you  will  see  rays,  or  lines,  radiating  from 
the  centre,  and  known  as  the  medullary  rays  (Figs.  9  and 

1  So  called  because  in  the  common  trees  of  temperate  climes  one  layer  is 
added  each  year. 

29 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


10),   because  they    spring   from    the    pith    (Latin    medulla}. 

Sometimes  these  lines  are  too  fine  to  be  noticed. 

You  will  see  from  Fig.   10  that  the  layers  of   wood   are 

also  shown  in  the  lines  of  what  we  call  the  "  grain  "  on  the 

surface  of  a  piece  of  wood  cut  lengthways,  and  that  the 
lines  of  the  grain  are  continuations  of 
the  annual  rings.  You  will  also  notice 
at  the  ends  of  timber,  after  the  season- 
ing has  begun,  cracks  radiating  from 


FIG.  10. 


FIG.  n. 


the  centre,  showing  the  natural  lines  of  cleavage  or  separa- 
tion. 

The  way  the  log  is  sawed  is  important,  though  you  might 
naturally  think  that  the  only  thing  is  to  saw  it  any  way  that 
will  give  pieces  of  the  required  size  and  shape. 

Why  is  green  wood  heavier  and  softer  than  dry  wood, 
and  the  sapwood  of  green  timber  softer  than  the  heart? 
Because  of  the  sap  or  water  contained.  The  amount  of 
water  is  sometimes  even  as  much  as  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
weight  of  the  wood,  but  the  quantity  depends  upon  the  kind 
of  tree,  the  season,  etc.  Now  the  more  water  the  green  log 
contains,  the  more  it  will  shrink.  It  begins  to  dry  and 


Wood 


shrink  as  soon  as  the  tree  has  been  cut  down.  The  sap- 
wood  shrinks  more  than  the  heart  because  it  contains  more 
water,  and  faster  because,  being  on  the  outside,  it  is  more  ex- 
posed. The  log  shrinks  most  in  the  line  of  the  annual  rings, 
that  is,  around  the  tree.  It  shrinks  much  less  in  the  line  of 
the  medullary  rays,  that  is,  across  the  tree.  Shrinkage  length- 
ways is  too  slight  to  be  considered  '  (Fig.  1 1). 

The  result  of  all 
this  unequal  shrink- 
ing is  that  the  log 
tends  to  split, orcrack 
open,  at  the  circum- 
ference (Fig.  12),  the 
cracks  running  in  to- 
ward the  centre,  in 
the  line  of  the  med- 
ullary rays.  If  the  log 
is  halved  or  quarter- 
ed, so  that  the  inner 
parts  are  exposed, 
the  drying  goes  on 
more  uniformly 
throughout,  the 
cracking  is  not  so  bad, 
and  the  parts  of  the 
log  will  shrink  some- 
what as  shown  in 
T--  j  FIG.  13. 

Figs.  13  and  14. 

The  beams,  joists,  planks,  or  boards  cut  from   a  log  have 

1  Although  the  shrinkage  lengthways  is  not  usually  noticeable  as  affecting 
the  length  of  a  board,  it  shows  slightly  by  its  effect  in  causing  the  pieces  to 
spring,  or  become  bowed  lengthwise,  as  you  will  see  in  many  boards  which 
have  been  left  free  to  spring  while  seasoning. 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


the  same  tendency  to  shrink  unevenly  that  is  found  in  the 
log  itself.  This  causes  them  to  be  irregular  in  shape  and  to 
curl  or  warp  more  or  less,  according  to  the  part  of  the  log 
from  which  they  are  taken.  A  piece  cut  from  the  centre  of 

a  log  will  thus  hold 
its  shape  better  than 
if  cut  from  one  side 

(Fig-  15). 

When  a  log  is 
sawed  into  boards  or 
planks  (Fig.  16)  the 
middle  board 
shrinks  but  little  in 
width  and  in  thick- 
FlG-  I4'  ness  at  the  centre, 

but  becomes  thinner  towards  the  edges.  It  does  not  curl, 
because  it  is  cut  through  the  centre  of  the  log  and  has 
no  more  tendency  to  curl  one  way  than  the  other.  The 


FIG.  15.  FIG.  1 6. 

outside  board  shrinks  least  in  thickness  and  most  in  width, 
and  all,  except  the  middle  one,  shrink  differently  on  one 
side  from  the  other.  They  become  convex  toward  the  pith, 
or  heart,  and  concave  toward  the  outside.  Different  kinds 


Wood 


of  wood  shrink  and  warp  to  different  degrees.  You  can 
learn  something  about  these  matters  by  examining  the  stock 
in  any  lumber-yard. 

Now   to  come  to   the   practical   application  of  our    brief 
study  of  the  log  and  the 
sawing  process:   if  you 
merely  wish  to  get  the  most 
that  you  can  from  a  log  in 
the     form     of    boards    or 
plank,havethepiecessliced 
off  in  the  simple  way  just 
shown  (Fig.   17).     This  is 
the  usual  way  of    sawing  for 
ordinary  purposes.     Boarding, 
for  the  outside  of  a  house,  for 
instance,   cut   in    this    way 
answers    every    purpose.     By 
this  process  the  central  boards 
will  be  good  and  the  outer  ones 
inferior,1  as  just  shown  (Fig.  16), 
but    for    common    work    all    can 
generally  be  used. 

If  you  wish  the  highly  figured  i 
grain a    often   seen    in    oak,   ash, 
chestnut,  etc.,  you  can  get  it  by 
sawing  the  log  as  just  shown  in 
Fig.  17.     The  figure  of  the  grain  will  be  most  marked  in  the 
outer  boards  (Fig.  18),  because  the  annual  rings  are  cut  more 

1  In  addition  to  the  curling,  the  outer  boards  will  be  poorer  because  they 
contain  a  greater  proportion  of  sapwood,  which  is  usually  inferior  to  the  heart- 
wood. 

2  By  this  is  not  meant  the  figure  or  flashes  shown  by  the  medullary  rays,  or 
"silver  grain,"  seen  in  quartered  oak  and  some  other  woods,  but  the  figure  of 
the  grain  without  the  medullary  rays,  as  seen  \nplain  oak,  etc. 

3 


FIG.  18. 


FIG.  19. 


34 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


F  G.  20. 


obliquely  in  them  than  in  the  boards  at  or  near  the  centre. 
These  boards  (Fig.  17)  will  tend  to  change  their  shape,  as 

just  shown  (Fig.  19),  but  if  they 
are  to  be  firmly  fastened  in  some 
way,  or  confined  (as  in  a  panel), 
handsome  grain  effects  can  be  ob- 
tained. 

If  you  wish  the  beautiful  figure 
formed  when  the  medullary  rays 
show  on  the  surface  of  the  board, 
as  in   "  quartered "    oak,    the  log 
should  be  cut  in  the  direction  of 
the  radii,  that  is,  along  the  lines 
of  the  medullary  rays  (Fig. 
20).    The  more  exactly  the 
side  of  a  board  is  cut  on 
the  radial  line    the    more 
richly    the    figure    of   the 
medullary   rays    will  be 
shown,  as  in  Fig.  21.    This 
method  of  sawing  is  more 
expensive    than    the    first 
way,   of    course,  as   it   re- 
quires   more    labour    and 
wastes  more  of  the  wood. 
The  wide  board  shown  in 
Fig.  21  and  either  of  those 
in  Fig.  22  are  examples. 
If  you  wish  boards  that 

will    shrink    the    least    in 
FIG.  22.  .  , .  i          , 

width  and  remain  as  true 

as  possible,  then  the  log  should  be  sawed  on  the  radial  lines 
as  just  shown,  so  that  all  the  boards  will  be  from  the  middle 


Wood 


35 


of  the  log.  Wood  shrinks  but  little  in  the  direction  of  the 
radii,  as  just  shown,  and  middle  boards  will  be  alike  on  both 
sides  as  regards  heart-  and  sap-wood,  etc.,  and,  therefore, 
have  the  least  tendency  to  change  of  shape.  The  middle 


FIG.  23. 


FIG.  24. 


FIG.  25. 


board  by  the  method  of  Fig.  17  will  be  a  good  board  in 
these  respects. 

Various  methods  of  radial  sawing,  or  in  which  part  of  the 
boards  are  so  cut,  are  shown  in  Figs.  20  and  26,  Figs.  23, 
24,  25,  and  26  showing  the  log  quartered  and  various  ways 


FIG.  26. 


FIG.  27. 


of  sawing  into  boards.  Thus  we  see  that  the  middle  boards, 
those  passing  through  or  near  the  centre,  are  the  best  for 
most  purposes. 

Split  or  rift  stock  is  stronger  than  sawed.     If  you  wish  a 
piece  especially  tough  and  durable,  as  for  an  axe  handle  or 


36  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

a  stout  pin,  it  should  be  split  out  rather  than  sawed,  unless 
the  wood  is  very  straight-grained,  because  the  splitting  is 
sure  to  be  in  the  line  of  the  fibres,  thus  avoiding  "  cross- 
grain,"  which  cannot  well  be  entirely  prevented  in  sawing. 
If  the  grain  is  straight,  there  may  be  no  practical  difference 
in  the  result  between  sawing  and  splitting,  as  in  the  so-called 
rift  flooring,  which  is  really  sawed,  but  with  crooked-grained 
pieces  the  difference  is  marked  in  such  cases  as  the  block 
shown  in  Fig.  27,  from  which  four  pins  can  be  sawed,  while 
but  one  can  be  split  out.  That  one  will  be  straight-grained, 
however,  and  stronger  than  the  sawed  ones,  which  will  be 
cross-grained. 

Try  your  best  to  get  well-seasoned  wood  for  your  nice 
work.  If  it  is  not  dry  before  you  use  it,  it  must  of  course 
dry  afterwards,  which  is  likely  to  cause  cracks,  warping, 
opened  joints,  and  often  the  entire  ruin  of  the  article  you 
have  made.  You  will  have  to  trust  the  dealer,  or  some 
friend,  until  you  have  had  enough  experience  to  judge  for 
yourself,  for  it  is  no  easy  matter  for  an  amateur  to  decide, 
except  in  case  of  very  green  stock,  which  is  of  course  wet 
and  soggy. 

There  are  two  ways  of  drying  wood  in  common  use.  One 
is  the  old-fashioned  way  (commonly  known  as  seasoning, 
weather-drying,  or  air-drying]  in  which  the  wood  is  gradually 
seasoned  by  the  natural  process  of  exposure  to  the  air  (but 
protected  from  the  weather),  that  is,  letting  it  dry  of  itself. 

Do  not  believe  the  statements  so  common  in  books  that  it 
"  takes  lumber  "  some  definite  time,  as  one  year  or  two  years, 
"  to  season."  It  all  depends  on  the  kind  of  wood,  its  shape  and 
size,  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  and  various  circumstances. 
For  some  rough  work  (a  pig-pen,  for  instance)  there  is  no  advant- 
age in  seasoning  at  all,  because  the  stock  can  just  as  well  dry 
after  the  work  is  done  as  before.  For  many  kinds  of  com- 


Wood  37 

mon  work  one  or  two  years  is  sufficient  for  some  kinds  and  sizes 
of  wood  ;  for  a  nicer  grade  of  work  two  or  three  years  is  none  too 
much,  while  for  very  nice  indoor  work  four  years  or  more  is  not 
too  long  for  the  stock  to  season.  There  is  very  little  danger  of 
its  being  kept  too  long.  It  never  will  get  perfectly  dry  (see  Ap- 
pendix). Whether  it  is  dry  enough  or  not  depends  on  what  you 
want  it  for. 

To  save  time  and  money  the  artificial  way  (known  as 
kiln-drying)  of  shutting  it  up  in  a  room  and  drying  it  quickly 
by  steam  or  other  heat  is  now  used,  and,  so  far  as  drying  the 
wood  is  concerned,  this  process  can  do  the  work  well  and 
much  more  quickly  than  the  old  way — sometimes  too 
quickly.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  in  factories 
where  cheap  furniture  and  other  common  articles  are  made 
nowadays,  a  standing  tree  is  felled  on  Monday,  the  log  rolled 
into  one  end  of  the  factory,  and  before  Saturday  night  the 
finished  articles  made  from  it,  all  varnished  and  complete, 
are  sent  out  from  the  other  end  of  the  shop — and  some 
articles  are  turned  out  even  quicker. 

In  the  natural  process  of  air-drying  the  moisture  gradually 
and  slowly  works  out  to  the  surface  and  evaporates,  until  the 
wood  is  seasoned,  though  never  absolutely  dry,  and  the  stock 
is  firmer,  more  elastic,  and  less  affected  by  heat  and  cold, 
moisture  and  dryness,  than  if  kiln-dried.  The  latter  process 
tends  to  dry  the  outside  and  ends  of  the  lumber  too  fast  for 
the  inside.  It  certainly  lessens  the  elasticity  of  the  wood 
and  weakens  it.  Making  it  so  unnaturally  dry  (as  if  baked), 
as  is  often  done,  only  makes  it  more  susceptible  to  the 
atmosphere  when  taken  from  the  kiln,  and,  unless  it  is  at 
once  protected  from  the  air  in  some  way,  it  will  reabsorb 
moisture  until  it  gets  into  a  more  natural  condition  ;  but  that 
will  not  fully  restore  the  loss  of  elasticity  (see  Appendix). 
The  deterioration  in  the  quality  of  the  wood  can  be  plainly 


38  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

seen  by  any  wood-worker,  and  is  often  a  subject  of  remark  in 
regard  to  oak. 

The  kiln-drying  "  takes  the  life  out  of  the  wood,"  as  work- 
men express  it,  but  just  why  this  is  so  is  not  easy  to  ex- 
plain, for  the  structure  and  properties  of  wood  are  very 
complex.  I  have  seen  too  many  illustrations  in  my  own 
experience  and  that  of  others  to  have  any  doubt  of  the  fact, 
however,  and  lumber  left  for  years  to  season  naturally, 
"  stands,"  as  the  expression  is,  better  than  if  kiln-dried — a 
fact  which  is,  I  think,  generally  conceded  by  wood-workers 
who  have  had  experience  with  both  kinds. 

The  gain  by  kiln-drying,  in  time  and  money,  is,  therefore, 
more  or  less  offset  by  impairment  of  the  quality  of  the  wood, 
so  if  you  can  find  stock  that  you  know  has  been  seasoning 
for  years  by  the  natural  process,  buy  it  by  all  means  for 
your  nice  work,  even  if  you  have  to  pay  more,  regardless 
of  what  the  dealers  in  kiln-dried  stock  or  the  makers  of 
articles  for  sale  may  tell  you  about  the  advantages  of  kiln- 
dried  wood. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  a  dealer  brags  of  his  new  patent 
"  chain-lightning  "  dryer  that  will  make  green  wood  "dry  as 
a  bone "  in  two  or  three  days,  go  elsewhere  to  buy  your 
stock,  for  wood  dried  in  a  few  days  is  not  the  kind  to  use 
for  good  work.  You  will  probably  have  to  use  kiln-dried 
stock  for  most,  or,  perhaps,  all  of  your  work,  but  get  it  from 
a  slow-drying  kiln  and  keep  it  for  further  seasoning  as  long 
as  you  can. 

Even  if  wood  has  been  well  seasoned,  it  is  best,  before  put- 
ting it  into  nice  work,  to  cut  it  up  and  dress  it  approxim- 
ately to  shape  and  leave  it  in  a  dry  place  for  some  time 
for  a  final  seasoning,  particularly  in  the  case  of  thick  stock. 
Do  this  with  kiln-dried  stock  fresh  from  the  dry-house.  Let 
it  have  a  little  time  to  get  into  harmony  with  the  atmos- 


Wood 


39 


phere.  Whenever  wood  has  been  exposed  to  damp  air,  as 
in  a  wet  shed  or  cellar,  let  it  stand  in  the  warm  shop  a  while 
before  using  it  for  nice  work. 

The  stock  is  arranged  for  seasoning  so  as  to  allow  the  air 
to  circulate  around  and  between  the  pieces.  A  common 
way  is  simply  to  arrange  them  in  piles,  each  piece  being 
separated  from  those  above  and  below  by  strips  or  sticks 
laid  across  (Fig.  28).  These  sticks  should  be  placed 
directly  over  one  another,  and  so  that  the  lumber  will  lie 


FIG.  28. 

straight,  else  the  weight  of  the  pile,  which  should  tend  to 
make  the  pieces  dry  straight,  will  have  the  opposite  effect 
and  make  them  permanently  crooked.  There  are  other  ways 
of  arranging  wood  for  drying,  but  this  method  is  common 
and  illustrates  the  most  important  principles.  Stock  is 
sometimes  stacked  upright,  and  small  pieces  are  occasionally 
hung  up  for  such  nice  work  as  billiard  cues  and  bows. 

Seasoned  wood  is  lighter  in  weight  than  green,  dryer  to 
the  touch,  usually  has  a  different  odour,  cuts  differently  when 
you  whittle  it  (and  the  piece  you  whittle  off  breaks  differ- 
ently), and  it  shows  a  difference  when  you  saw  it.  It  is 
impossible  to  define  these  differences  and  you  will  have  to 
learn  them  by  actual  work.  It  is  not  always  easy  even  for 


40  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

an  experienced  person  to  tell  with  certainty  about  some 
pieces  until  he  has  "  worked  "  them,  so  much  do  the  charac- 
teristics of  different  pieces  vary.  One  test  is  to  rap  the 
boards  sharply  with  a  hammer.  A  green  board  and  a  dry  one 
of  the  same  kind  will  "  rap  "  differently, — that  is,  will  have 
a  different  vibration  and  give  out  a  different  sound.  Of 
course  this  cannot  be  described,  but  you  can  judge  quite 
well  in  this  way.  It  is  one  of  the  many  things  you  can  learn 
only  by  experience.  You  can  ascertain  much  about  the 
character  and  condition  of  lumber  by  sawing  or  planing  or 
whittling  a  piece.  This  is  a  good  test  for  dryness,  toughness, 
and  elasticity  (which  you  can  tell  about  by  breaking  the 
shavings). 

Weather-dried  timber  is  usually  somewhat  darkened  from 
exposure,  but  kiln-drying  lightens  the  colour  of  some  woods. 

Stock  with  a  bright  lustrous  appearance  and  of  dark  hue  is 
generally  superior  to  that  of  a  lighter  colour  and  duller 
appearance,  but  such  characteristics  depend  much  upon 
the  kind  of  wood.  Green  wood  is  tougher  than  seasoned 
wood,  but  the  latter  is  more  elastic.  To  subject  seasoned 
wood  to  moisture  and  heat  brings  it  back,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, to  its  original  condition,  and  renders  it  for  the  time 
being  tougher,  hence  the  process  of  bending  wood  by  the 
application  of  steam  or  hot  water  (see  Bending  in  Part  V.). 

Reject  "  wany "  lumber,  or  that  of  which  the  edges  or 
corners  have  not  been  squared  (Fig.  18),  and  also  boards  and 
planks  which  have  not  been  sawed  to  a  uniform  thickness. 
It  is  not  uncommon  for  a  board  to  be  considerably  thinner 
than  it  should  be  in  some  part  of  its  length,  due  to  irregular- 
ity in  sawing. 

For  plain  work  avoid  "  cross-grained  "  stock,  as  well  as 
that  having  knots  (which  are  sometimes  "  tight  "  and  some- 
times "  loose  "),  as  it  is  harder  to  work  and  to  smooth,  is  not 


Wood  41 

as  strong,  and  does  not  hold  its  shape  as  well,  as  a  rule. 
Sometimes  it  is  desirable,  however,  on  account  of  the  beauti- 
ful figure  of  the  grain  shown  in  many  crooked-grained  pieces, 
as  in  mahogany  for  furniture  (see  Appendix).  Bear  in  mind 
that  when  especial  strength  is  required  rift  stock  is  best. 
Reject  wood  which  smells  musty,  or  has  rusty-looking  spots, 


FIG.  29. 

which  are  signs  of  decay,  or  of  the  attack  of  fungi,  which  may 
spread  and  under  favourable  conditions  attack  other  pieces 
which  are  sound  (see  Appendix). 

Reject  crooked  stock.  The  worst  form  is  rvinding  or 
twisting.  Of  course  no  one  would  take  such  an  extreme 
case  as  Fig.  29,  unless  for  some  very  rough  work,  but  even 
a  very  slight  winding  may  make  much  trouble  in  your  nice 
work.  So  look  particularly  for  this  defect,  which  you  can 
often  detect  at  once  by  the  eye,  but  if  your  eye  is  not  well 
trained  use  winding-sticks  (see  Part  V.).  Warped  or  curled 
stock,  with  the  surface  rounded  or  hollowed  (Fig.  19),  is  also 
bad,  but  you  will  need  no  instructions  to  detect  this  defect 


FIG.  30. 

by  the  eye  or  any  straight  stick.  When  boards  are  rounding 
on  one  side  and  hollowing  on  the  other,  it  is  due  either  to 
the  way  the  log  was  sawed,  as  we  have  seen,  or  to  one  side 
having  been  more  exposed  and  so  having  dried  faster  and 
shrunk  faster  than  the  other,  causing  that  side  to  be  concave, 
while  the  other  became  convex.  Stock  is  sometimes  crooked 


42  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

lengthways, — either  a  simple  bending  in  a  curve  or  at  an 
angle,  or  wavy  (Fig.  30),  or  both, — often  due  to  careless 
"sticking"  (Fig.  28)  while  the  wood  was  green.  Sighting 
lengthways  will  of  course  show  these  defects. 

Reject  stock  badly  checked  at  the  ends,  or  cracked.  There 
is  apt  to  be  more  or  less  of  this  in  most  lumber.  In  season- 
ing, the  pieces  dry  faster  on  the  outside  than  in  the  middle, 
which  causes  checks  or  cracks,  usually  worse  at  the  ends  of 
the  pieces,  where  the  drying  takes  place  most  rapidly.  The 
ends  of  valuable  boards  and  planks  are  sometimes  painted  or 
cleated,  which  in  a  measure  prevents  this  result.  Occasion- 
ally, when  the  cleat  is  removed  a  crack  will  suddenly  extend 
and  even  split  the  board. 

Do  not  take  a  cracked  or  partly  split  board,  thinking  that 
you  can  use  the  sound  end  from  the  point  where  the  crack 
appears  to  stop.  Possibly  you  can,  but  oftentimes  and  in 
some  kinds  of  wood  it  is  impossible  to  tell  before  the  stock 
is  cut  where  the  cracks  end.  In  mahogany,  for  example, 
they  sometimes  are  found  to  extend,  or  develop,  several  feet 
beyond  where  they  appear  to  stop.  Sometimes  you  can 
buy  wood  with  such  defects  at  a  discount.  Unless  you  are 
sure,  however,  that  there  is  enough  sound,  clear  wood  out- 
side of  the  cracks  or  knots,  and  unless  the  discount  is  pretty 
large,  it  will  usually  be  better  to  buy  clear,  sound  stock  for 
nice  work,  as  the  waste  is  very  apt  to  offset  the  saving,  not 
to  speak  of  the  extra  time  and  labour  it  takes  to  work  up 
such  material.  (See  Shakes  in  Appendix.) 

Reject  sapwood  as  far  as  possible,  because  it  is  usually 
inferior  to  the  heartwood. 

In  the  case  of  elm  and  young  ash  the  sapwood  is,  however, 
superior  to  the  heart.  The  heartwood  is  usually  harder  and  more 
durable  than  the  sapwood,  heavier,  of  better  texture,  and  com- 
monly of  better  colour. 


Wood  43 

"  The  sapwood  is,  as  a  rule,  darker  in  the  whitewood  class 
than  the  heartvvood,  whether  seasoned  or  unseasoned,  but  is  paler 
in  colour  in  most  hardwood  trees  which  have  had  time  to  season. 
In  some  of  the  white,  or  softer  woods,  when  fresh  cut,  the  differ- 
ence is  scarcely  perceptible  ;  but  exposure  to  the  air  quickly  gives 
to  the  outer  layers  a  greenish  tinge,  due  to  a  species  of  mould 
fungi  which  attack  them." — LASLETT  and  WARD.  (See  also 
Appendix.) 

When  buying,  do  not  take  boards  just  as  they  happen  to 
come  from  the  pile.  Select  them  yourself.  Most  good- 
natured  dealers  will  let  you  do  this  if  you  do  not  expect 
them  to  unstack  a  whole  pile  just  for  one  or  two  boards.  It 
is  better  to  do  this  for  nice  work  even  if  a  slight  charge 
should  be  made  for  the  privilege.  When  you  come  to  pick 
out  boards  you  will  see  the  application  of  what  has  been 
said  about  the  ways  of  cutting  the  log,  and  you  can  tell 
by  the  annual  rings  at  the  ends  of  the  boards,  by  the 
sapwood  (when  visible),  the  grain,  etc.,  from  what  part  of 
the  log  the  pieces  were  sawed. 

Use  good,  clear  stock  for  everything  but  rough  work.  Of 
course  in  rough  or  temporary  work  you  can  save  expense  by 
using  wood  from  packing-cases,  boxes,  old  fence-rails,  or 
anything  that  will  serve  the  purpose,  but  as  a  rule  avoid  try- 
ing to  make  nice,  new  things  of  wood  taken  from  old  work 
or  boxes.  The  quality  of  the  wood  used  for  boxes  nowa- 
days is  apt  to  be  poor  and  hard  to  work.  The  wood  taken 
from  old  cabinet-work  is,  however,  often  better  than  you  are 
likely  to  buy,  but  you  need  to  be  very  cautious  about  working 
over  old  material,  for  the  dirt  which  has  been  ground  into  it 
is  apt  to  dull  your  tools,  and,  moreover,  the  presence  of  con- 
cealed nails,  etc.  (which  it  is  sometimes  almost  impossible  to 
detect),  will  often  injure  your  tools  so  much  as  to  more  than 
offset  what  you  save  in  expense, 


44  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Do  not  buy  thick  stock  with  the  idea  of  sawing  it  into 
thinner  pieces  (unless  necessary).  Of  course  it  can  be  sawed 
into  thinner  or  smaller  pieces,  but  you  cannot  always  be  sure 
that  these  will  be  as  true  as  the  original  stock.  Suddenly 
exposing  the  middle  of  a  piece  of  wood  to  the  air  in  this  way 
sometimes  plays  queer  pranks  with  the  shape  of  the  pieces 
(see  Appendix).  If  you  want  to  use  boards  for  good  work 
buy  those  which  have  seasoned  as  boards,  instead  of  splitting 
up  thicker  lumber ;  and  always  try  to  treat  both  sides  of 
a  board  alike  so  far  as  you  can. 

Bear  this  in  mind:  If  you  take  an  inch  board  to  the  mill 
to  be  planed  down  to  three  eighths  of  an  inch,  for  instance, 
have  it  planed  equally,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  from  both  sides. 
Ignorant  hands  often  simply  smooth  off,  or  "  surface,"  one 
side,  and  then  plane  the  board  down  on  the  other  side,  when 
it  will  sometimes  warp  badly  at  once  and  be  useless,  perhaps, 
for  the  purpose  intended. 

If  you  carefully  pile  and  "  stick "  the  stock  you  have 
bought  (Fig.  28),  it  will  tend  to  keep  the  pieces  straight  and 
true.  Never  lay  good  boards  down  flat  directly  upon  one 
another  unless  they  are  thoroughly  seasoned.  It  is  the  best 
of  all  ways,  however,  to  keep  a  pile  of  thoroughly  seasoned 
stock,  but  not  the  way  to  season  it.  The  top  board  will 
warp.  Never  lay  a  single  board  of  nice  stock  flat  on  its  side. 
Keep  short  pieces  of  nice  stock  standing  on  end  where  they 
will  be  equally  exposed  on  both  sides  to  heat  and  cold, 
moisture  and  dryness. 

The  best  way  to  learn  about  any  kind  of  wood  is  from  the 
wood  itself.  It  is  a  capital  idea  to  make  a  collection  of 
specimens  of  as  many  kinds  as  you  can.'  You  will  be  sur- 

1  The  forests  of  North  America,  exclusive  of  Mexico,  are  now  believed,  ac- 
cording to  Sargent,  to  contain  four  hundred  and  twenty-two  species  of  plants, 
besides  numerous  varieties,  which  can  fairly  be  considered  trees. 


Wood  45 

prised  to  see  how  varied,  interesting,  and  handsome  a  collec- 
tion you  can  make  at  little  or  no  expense.  (See  Appendix.) 
The  kinds  of  wood  which  you  are  likely  to  use  are 
commonly  known  as  either  hard  or  soft,  the  former  class 
from  trees  with  broad  leaves,  as  the  oak,  the  latter  from  the 
coniferous  or  needle-leaved  trees,  as  the  white  pine.  This  dis- 
tinction between  hard  and  soft  wood  you  may  find  somewhat 
puzzling  at  first,  for  the  common  whitewood  of  the  hardwood 
class  you  will  find  softer  and  easier  to  work  than  hard  pine  of 
the  softwood  class,  but  the  distinction  is  based  on  botanical 
reasons.  The  hard  woods  are  usually  more  durable  as  well 
as  stronger  than  the  soft.  For  various  woods  see  Appendix. 

Timber. — The  word  timber  is  applied  in  a  general  way  to  the 
log  and  to  the  material  itself,  and  to  the  standing  trees.  It  is  also 
applied  more  specifically  to  the  larger  squared  pieces,  or  "  dimen- 
sion "  stock,  such  as  sills,  beams,  etc. 

Lumber. — As  the  term  is  used  in  the  United  States,  lumber 
consists,  according  to  Webster,  of  "  timber  sawed  or  split  for  use, 
as  beams,  joists,  boards,  planks,  staves,  hoops,  and  the  like." 

Lumber  may  be  either  undressed  or  dressed,  that  is,  rough 
(as  it  comes  from  the  saw)  or  planed.  It  is  usually  sawed  in 
regular  thicknesses,  and  for  stock  which  is  in  steady  demand, 
such  as  joists,  floor  timbers,  etc.,  in  regular  widths,  as  2  "  x 
4,"  4  "  x  6  ",  etc.  It  is  commonly  sold  in  lengths  varying 
from  10  feet  to  20  feet.  Twelve  feet  is  a  common  length  for 
boards.  Planing  (by  machine)  rough  or  undressed  boards  on 
both  sides  will  usually  reduce  the  thickness  of  an  inch  board 
to  about  seven  eighths  of  an  inch.  Other  thicknesses  will  of 
course  be  reduced  correspondingly.  Bear  this  in  mind.  The 
terms  I  "  board,  2  "  plank,  etc.,  apply,  as  a  rule,  to  the  stock 
in  the  rough  state  as  it  comes  from  the  saw.  When  you  buy 
planed  or  dressed  lumber  it  will  be  thinner — that  is,  the 


46 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


"  inch  board  "  that  you  wish  to  get  for  a  shelf  will  not  be  one 
inch  thick  (unless  you  get  it  unplaned),  but  seven  eighths  of 
an  inch. 


FIG.  31. 


You  must  make  allowance  for  this  when  you  figure  on  dressed 
lumber.  If  for  example  the  board  must  be  one  inch  thick  when 

planed,  you  will  have 
to  get  a  thin  plank 
and  have  it  planed 
down,  or  pull  over 
the  pile  until  you  find 
a  board  which  hap- 
pens to  be  sawed  as 
thick  as  one  inch  and 
one  eighth.  You  can 
sometimes  find 
boards  planed  one 
inch  thick,  but  as  a 
rule  you  will  find 
the  thickness  seven  eighths  of  an  inch.  A  similar  statement 
will  apply  to  the  various  thicknesses  of  planks  also.  The  sawing 
is  often  very  irregular,  however,  and  frequently  some  boards  or 
planks  will  run  thick  enough  in  sawing  to  give  the  required  thick- 
ness when  planed,  so  it  is  well  to  look  for  such  when  you  need 
pieces  a  little  thicker  than  planed  stock  usually  runs. 

For  such  work  as  you  are  likely  to  do  you  will  chiefly  need 
boards,  planks,  and  joists.  Other  forms  will  be  referred  to 
farther  on. 

Boards. — These  are  one  inch  thick  or  less. 

Matched-boards,  or  "  sheathing,"  have  a  groove  on  one  edge  and 
a  corresponding  tongue  on  the  other  (Fig.  31.)  Any  number  of 
boards  can  thus  be  joined  to  make  a  wide  surface.  The  edges 
of  these  boards  were  formerly  tongued  and  grooved  by  hand 


Wood 


47 


with  "  matching-planes,"  but  now  this  is  done  by  machine, 
usually  with  some  form  of  bead  or  moulding  at  one  edge  (and 
sometimes  in  the  middle)  to  render  the  joint  less  noticeable. 

Planks. — These  are  thick  boards, — more  than  one  inch  in 
thickness.  Both  planks  and  boards  can  be  of  any  width  or  length, 
the  distinction  being  merely  in  thickness. 

Joists. — These  are  the  same  as  narrow  planks,  but  of  some 


FIG.  33. 


fixed  width,  as  2  *  by  3  *,  which  is  the  same  as  a  3  "  strip  sawed 
from  the  edge  of  a  2  "  plank. 

Most  of  the  lumber  you  will  require  is  sold  by  the  square 
foot,  at  so  much  an  M  (1000  feet),  or  so  much  a  foot.  The 
square  foot  has  an  area  of  144  square 
inches  and  is  one  inch  thick,  or  contains 
144  cubic  inches,  regardless  of  the  shape 
or  size  of  the  piece.  That  is,  Figs.  32, 
33,  and  34  each  equal  one  square  foot 
by  board  measure. 

Thus  a  board  12'  long,  12"  wide,  and  i"  thick,  contains  12  feet, 
board  measure.  A  board  12'  long,  6"  wide,  and  i"  thick,  con- 
tains 6  feet.  A  plank  12'  long,  12"  wide,  and  2"  thick,  contains 
24  feet.  A  plank  12'  long,  6"  wide,  and  2"  thick,  contains  12 
feet,  or  the  same  as  the  board  first  mentioned.  You  can  bear  in 
mind  that  in  case  of  boards  12'  long  the  contents  in  feet  is  indi- 
cated by  the  width  in  inches,  as  you  will  see  from  the  examples 


48  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

just  given.  A  board  12'  long  and  7*  wide  contains  7  square  feet. 
So  all  you  have  to  do  to  measure  12'  stock  is  to  find  the  width  in 
inches.  If  the  board  tapers  in  width,  measure  at  the  middle. 
The  same  is  true  of  planks,  only  the  width  in  inches  must  be 
multiplied  by  the  thickness  of  the  plank.  A  plank  12'  long,  7" 
wide,  and  3*  thick,  contains  21  square  feet.  Of  course  this  prin- 
ciple can  be  quickly  applied  to  pieces  whose  length  is  any  conven- 
ient multiple  or  fraction  of  twelve.  Thus  a  board  18'  long, 
8"  wide,  and  i"  thick,  contains  i\  times  as  many  square  feet  as 
one  12'  long,  or  12  feet.  A  plank  9'  long,  6"  wide,  and  2"  thick, 
contains  f  as  many  square  feet  as  if  12'  long,  or  9  square  feet. 

Boards  less  than  one  inch  thick  are  usually  sold  by  the 
square  foot  of  surface,  regardless  of  thickness — the  price 
varying  according  to  the  thickness,  except  in  cases  where 
an  inch  board  is  planed  down,  when,  of  course,  inch  thick- 
ness is  charged  for.  There  is  no  distinction  made  in  measur- 
ingbetween  a  rough  board  i"  thick  and  a  planed  board  |", 
as,  of  course,  they  represent  the  same  amount  of  lumber. 
The  cost  by  the  foot  of  the  planed  board  is  greater  because 
of  the  expense  of  planing.  In  cities,  and  sometimes  in  the 
larger  towns,  you  can  find  thin  boards  (£",  f",  £",  T3T",  £" 
thick)  already  planed,  and  even  scraped,  for  nice  work. 

Some  of  the  rarer  and  less  commonly  used  woods  are  often  sold 
by  the  pound,  as  ebony,  leopard  wood,  tulip  wood,  etc.  Pieces 
turned  out  in  quantities  for  special  uses,  as  strips,  mouldings, 
etc.,  are  often  sold  by  the  "  running  foot,"  meaning  simply  the 
length,  the  price  varying  according  to  the  amount  of  lumber  and 
labour  required.  Certain  regular  sizes  and  shapes  of  lumber  are 
sold  by  the  hundred  or  by  the  piece.  Shingles,  clapboards, 
laths,  and  the  like,  are  sold  in  bunches  or  bundles. 

For  other  matters  relating  to  wood,  see  Appendix. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WORKING   DRAWINGS,    LAYING   OUT   THE   WORK,   AND 
ESTIMATING 

Working  Drawings. — A  simple  drawing  will  often  give 
you  a  better  idea  of  an  object  than  you  can  get  from  any  de- 
scription in  words,  for  drawing  is  not  only  a  very  ancient 
form  of  language  but  one  readily  understood  by  people  of 
all  countries  and  all  times.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  tools  of  a 
workman  in  these  days,  so  of  course  the  quicker  you  be- 
come familiar  with  it  the  better,  for  the  day  for  "  rule-of- 
thumb  "  work  and  feeling  one's  way  along  step  by  step 
is  fast  giving  way  to  the  guidance  of  the  working  drawing, 
which  shows  one  not  only  exactly  what  is  to  be  made  but 
exactly  how  to  make  it. 

When  you  wish  to  make  some  particular  thing,  you  should 
begin  by  making  rough  sketches  to  -express  your  idea,  and 
from  them  an  accurate  working  drawing  in  which  every  de- 
tail and  measurement  is  clearly  given.  Make  all  your  work- 
ing drawings  carefully  to  scale  (see  Appendix),  and  whenever 
you  can,  make  them  full  size.  Do  not  guess  at  the  height, 
width,  and  length,  but  measure,  and  measure  very  carefully. 
Never  mind  if  it  takes  time.  Learn  first  to  do  it  right,  and 
practice  will  soon  teach  you  to  do  it  more  quickly. 

The  time  to  make  changes  in  your  plans  is  when  you  are 
making  the  drawings — particularly  the  rough  preparatory 
sketches.  Making  the  drawings  will,  if  you  make  them  com- 
plete and  accurate,  show  you  what  you  know  and  what  you 

49 


50  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

do  not  know  about  the  subject.  The  working  drawing  should 
be  complete  and  final. 

Begin  the  making  of  sketches  and  detailed  drawings  with 
the  first  article  you  make,  no  matter  how  simple  it  may  be. 
You  can  go  about  the  work  with  confidence,  which  goes 
a  long  way  toward  success,  when  you  know  that  you  have 
thought  it  out  to  the  end  and  have  it  all  done  on  paper. 
For  practical  suggestions  about  working  drawings,  see  Ap- 
pendix. 

Laying  out  the  Work. — Try  to  get  the  measurements 
and  lines  exact,  and  do  not  be  satisfied  with  coming  within 
an  eighth  of  an  inch.  You  cannot  do  good  work  unless  it  is 
laid  out  right,  and  cutting  exactly  to  a  line  will  do  no  good 
if  the  line  is  in  the  wrong  place.  It  makes  no  difference 
how  accurately  you  saw  off  a  board  if  you  have  marked 
it  half  an  inch  too  short,  nor  how  nicely  you  make  the  two 
parts  of  a  joint  if  you  have  laid  them  out  so  that  they  can 
not  fit  together.  The  work  is  spoiled  in  either  case. 

Go  over  all  your  measurements  a  second  time.  It  is  a 
good  plan  to  check  them  by  measuring  back  in  the  opposite 
direction,  just  as  you  prove  your  addition  of  a  column  of 
figures  downward  by  adding  again  upward.  Nothing  is 
easier  than  to  make  mistakes  in  measuring.  No  amount  of 
experience  will  prevent  the  chance  of  it.  It  takes  but  little 
time  to  measure  twice,  much  less  time  than  to  correct  mis- 
takes— as  you  will  discover  when  you  cut  off  a  mahogany 
board  five  inches  too  short  and  have  to  go  half  a  mile  to  the 
mill  and  pay  a  dollar  or  two  for  a  new  piece. 

In  getting  out  stock  for  nice  work  it  is  best  to  make  plenty 
of  allowance  for  the  pranks  which  expansion  and  contraction 
may  play  with  the  pieces  (see  Appendix).  How  to  arrange 
the  various  parts  of  your  work  with  regard  to  this  swelling 
and  shrinking,  warping  and  winding,  is  a  matter  of  practical 


Laying  Out  the  Work  5 1 

importance,  for  a  piece  of  wood  can  no  more  keep  still  than 
an  active  boy  can,  and,  although  its  movements  do  not  cause 
so  widespread  havoc  as  the  motions  of  some  boys,  you  will 
have  to  keep  a  careful  eye  on  its  actions  if  you  wish  to  turn 
out  good  work. 

This  applies  not  merely  to  the  way  green  wood  shrinks, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  but  particularly  to  the  way  seasoned 
wood  acts.  Many  people  think  it  is  only  green  wood  that 
causes  trouble  with  wood-work,  but  there  is  much  difficulty 
with  dry  wood — that  is,  what  we  call  dry  wood.  It  never  is 
really  absolutely  dry,  except  when  it  is  baked,  and  kept 
baked  (see  Appendix).  The  moment  you  take  it  out  of 
the  kiln  or  oven,  it  begins  to  take  up  some  of  the  moisture 
from  the  air,  as  we  have  seen,  and  swells.  If  the  air  be- 
comes more  damp,  the  wood  sucks  in  more  moisture  and 
swells  more.  If  the  air  becomes  dryer,  it  sucks  some  mois- 
ture from  the  wood,  and  the  wood  becomes  dryer  and 
shrinks.  It  is  thus  continually  swelling  and  shrinking,  ex- 
cept in  situations  where  the  amount  of  moisture  in  the  air 
does  not  change,  or  when  the  wood  is  completely  water- 
logged. 

"  What  does  such  a  little  thing  as  that  swelling  and  shrink- 
ing amount  to?  Use  more  nails  or  screws  or  glue  and  hold 
it  so  tight  it  cannot  move."  Well,  it  amounts  to  a  good 
deal  sometimes  when  you  cannot  open  the  drawer  where 
your  ball  is,  or  a  door  or  a  window,  without  breaking 
something. 

In  the  days  of  high-backed  church  pews  with  tall  doors  to 
every  pew,  each  pew  door  would  swell  in  damp  weather,  of 
course,  and  in  continued  dampness  the  doors  of  a  certain  church 
fitted  quite  snugly.  There  was  usually  no  special  trouble,  how- 
ever, for,  many  of  the  doors  being  open,  the  pew  frames  would 
give  way  a  little  so  that  the  closed  doors  would  open  with  a  slight 


52  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

pull ;  but  if  all  the  doors  were  shut  the  whole  line  would  be  so 
tightly  pressed  together  that  it  would  take  the  utmost  strength  of 
a  man  to  start  a  door.  Some  boys  one  day  catching  on  to  this 
idea  (though  they  were  not  studying  wood-work),  got  into  the 
church  one  Sunday  morning  before  service  and  by  using  their 
combined  strength  succeeded  in  closing  every  door.  They  then 
climbed  over  the  top  into  their  own  pew,  where  they  awaited  de- 
velopments, as  one  after  another  sedate  churchgoer,  after  a  pro- 
tracted struggle,  finally  burst  open  his  pew  door  with  a  ripping 
squeak  or  a  bang.  You  will  understand  that  those  boys  always 
remembered  the  expanding  power  of  wood.  I  feel  sure  that  I 
am  not  putting  any  boys  up  to  improper  mischief  in  telling  this 
story,  because  pews  are  not  so  often  made  in  that  way  now,  and 
there  is  slight  danger  of  their  having  any  chance  to  try  it. 

Did  you  ever  see  stone-workers  split  big  rocks  by  drilling 
a  row  of  holes  and  driving  dry  wedges  into  them  and  then 
wetting  the  wedges,  when  the  stone  will  split?1  Do  you 
think  nails  or  screws  or  glue  will  stop  a  force  which  will  do 
that  ?  You  cannot  prevent  the  swelling  and  the  shrinking  any 
more  than  you  can  repress  a  boy's  animal  spirits.  You  may 
be  able  to  crush  the  wood,  but  so  long  as  it  remains  a  sound, 
natural  board  it  must  swell  and  shrink. 

What  shall  you  do  then  ?  Why  just  the  same  as  with  the 
boy ;  give  it  a  reasonable  amount  of  play,  and  a  proper 
amount  of  guidance,  and  there  will  be  no  trouble.  You 
must  put  your  work  together  so  as  to  allow  for  the  expan- 
sion and  contraction  which  you  cannot  prevent.  You  will 
find  abundant  examples,  in  almost  every  house,  of  work 

1  The  peculiarity  of  the  wood  is  that  the  water  is  not  simply  drawn  in  to 
fill  up  what  we  call  the  pores,  as  in  chalk  or  any  ordinary  porous  inorganic 
substance,  but  enters  into  the  very  fibre  of  the  body,  forcing  apart  the  minute 
solid  particles  with  an  extraordinary  force  which  does  not  seem  to  be  fully  un- 
derstood. 


Laying  Out  the  Work  .53 

which  has  split  or  come  apart  or  warped  because  proper 
allowance  was  not  made  for  this  swelling  and  shrinking.  So 
try  to  avoid  these  errors  so  common  even  among  workmen 
who  should  know  better. 

For  instance,  if  you  were  to  put  cleats  on  one  side  of  a 
drawing-board  three  feet  wide,  and  were  to  firmly  glue  the 
cleats  for  their  whole 
length  (Fig.  35),  — you 
sometimes  see  such 
things  done, — you  would 
probably  not  have  to  wait 
many  weeks  before  you 
would  hear  a  report  like 
a  toy  pistol,  and  the  cleats 
would  be  loosened  for  at 
least  part  of  their  length, 

because  of  the  expansion  or  contraction  of  the  board. 
Similar  cases  are  continually  occurring.  In  such  cases 
the  cleats  should  be  screwed,  the  screws  having  play 
enough  in  their  holes  to  allow  for  the  changes  in  the  board 
(see  Appendix). 

You  must  also  make  plenty  of  allowance  for  planing  down 
edges  and  surfaces  and  for  the  wood  wasted  by  sawing.  No 
rule  can  be  set  for  these  allowances.  If  you  do  not  leave 
enough  spare  wood,  the  pieces  will  finally  come  out  too 
small.  If  you  leave  too  much  you  will  increase  the  amount 
of  planing  or  shaping  to  be  done,  but  of  the  two  extremes  it 
is  better  to  err  on  the  side  of  allowing  too  much. 

A  rod  (any  straight  stick),  say  six  feet  long,  and  another 
ten  or  twelve  feet  long,  with  feet  and  inches  marked,  are  very 
handy  to  have  when  laying  out  work  roughly,  or  for  measur- 
ing outdoor  work  approximately. 

Lay  out  your  work  from  only  one  edge  or  one  surface 


54  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

of  a  piece  of  lumber  unless  you  are  sure  the  edges  or  surfaces 
are  exactly  parallel.  Having  selected  the  best  edge  for  a 
"  working  edge"  and  the  best  surface  for  the  "  face,"  mark 
them  with  an  X  or  other  mark  to  avoid  mistakes  (Fig.  36). 
This  is  quite  important  in  laying  out  a  number  of  pieces,  as 
before  the  stock  is  accurately  worked  into  shape  you  cannot 
usually  rely  on  the  edges  being  parallel.  One  mark  like  a 
V  as  shown  in  Fig.  36  will  indicate  both  the  working  edge 
and  the  face. 

Estimating. — You  must,  of  course,  learn  to  make  your 
estimates    yourself,    often    a   very   important    preliminary. 


V 


FIG.  36. 

Prices  vary,  and  you  cannot  always  rely  on  other  people's 
estimates  for  your  own  work.  It  is  a  matter  of  simple 
arithmetic  and  of  making  correct  allowance  for  waste  and 
incidentals. 

You  can  always  get  the  prices  easily.  Figure  the  amount 
of  wood  required,  the  number  of  square  feet  (see  page  47) 
of  each  kind,  or  running  feet,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  multi- 
ply by  the  price  a  foot  ;  but  after  this  comes  the  allowance 
for  waste,  etc.,  which  cannot  usually  be  figured  exactly,  but 
must  be  estimated. 

For  instance,  if  you  wish  to  make  a  double-runner,  with  a  seat 
ten  feet  long,  the  board  from  which  to  make  it  will  very  likely  be 
twelve  feet  long,  in  which  case  you  must,  of  course,  buy  the 
whole  board.  Perhaps  you  can  use  the  two  feet  left  over  some- 
where else  on  the  sled,  perhaps  part  may  be  checked  or  injured. 


Estimating  55 

There  is  almost  always  some  defective  wood  (worthless, 
except  for  fuel) ;  some  pieces  are  too  short  or  small  to  be  of 
use ;  and  very  often  some  quite  good-sized  pieces  are  left 
over,  which,  so  far  as  the  particular  job  is  concerned,  are 
waste, — that  is,  you  must  buy  them  in  order  to  get  enough. 
Such  pieces  can  be  used  on  other  work,  and  are  not  really 
wasted  in  the  end. 

Just  how  much  to  add  to  the  number  of  feet  to  cover 
waste  varies,  of  course,  with  every  job.  Some  people  add  a 
fixed  per  cent,  to  their  measurements  or  calculations,  which, 
although  not  exactly  correct  for  any  one  job,  strikes  an 
average  for  a  good  many.  It  would  not  be  easy  to  state  any 
such  per  cent,  for  the  varied  work  you  will  do,  but  the  main 
thing  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  you  must  make  a  liberal  al- 
lowance. Just  so  with  the  other  materials.  Remember  to 
allow  for  waste  and  for  unforeseen  extras.  Even  with  ex- 
perienced people  things  are  very  apt  to  cost  more  than  the 
estimate. 

Make  a  neat  schedule  to  take  to  the  lumber-yard  or  mill, 
specifying  the  kinds  and  dimensions  of  the  stock  required. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE    WORKSHOP 

IF  you  have  a  place  where  you  can  build  a  workshop  you 
will  find  one  described  in  Part  III.  If  not,  try  to  find  a 
well-lighted  shop,  both  on  account  of  your  eyes  and  your 
work ;  one  that  is  dry,  or  your  tools  will  rust  and  your  work 
be  injured  ;  and  one  that  can  be  heated,  for  there  will  be  no 
time  you  will  wish  to  use  it  more  than  on  cold,  stormy  days. 

As  a  rule,  an  outbuilding  is  better  than  a  basement  or 
attic,  other  things  being  equal,  because  a  basement  is  liable 
to  be  damp  and  dark,  and  an  attic  is  bad  about  carrying  ma- 
terials and  finished  work  up-  and  down-stairs.  Noise  in  the 
top  story  of  a  house  is  usually  more  disturbing  to  the  occu- 
pants than  noise  in  the  basement  ;  but  all  these  conditions 
vary  in  different  places. 

Have  a  lock  on  the  door  of  your  workshop,  partly  to  keep 
small  children  from  getting  cut  if  they  should  come  in  with- 
out leave,  and  partly  to  prevent  your  work  being  interfered 
with  in  your  absence  and  the  edge-tools  used  for  various 
domestic  purposes  by  your  feminine  relatives,  who  might,  in 
their  innocence,  mistake  your  best  gouge  for  a  tack-puller  or 
the  quarter-inch  chisel  for  a  screw-driver. 

Of  course  you  will  have  overalls  and  jumper  or  a  work- 
man's apron  made  of  denim,  ticking,  or  some  strong  cloth. 
If  you  use  an  apron,  have  a  pocket  in  it.  A  small  slip  of  a 
pocket  on  the  outside  seam  of  your  overalls  above  the  right 
knee  is  also  useful  for  holding  a  rule.  When  you  have  a 

56 


The  Workshop 


57 


long  job  of  dirty  work  before  you,  a  good  way  i»  to  change 
your  clothes  for  any  "  old  duds"  that  you  may  have.  This 
saves  your  clothes,  and  in  warm  weather  is  more  comfort- 
able and  healthful  than  to  wear  overalls. 

Your  shop  can  be  all  fitted  up  for  you  by  a  carpenter,  but 
it  will  be  better,  and  better  fun,  to  do  it  yourself.  After 
the  workshop  itself  is  ready  the  first  important  thing  is  the 
work-bench. 

The  Work-Bench.— A  very  simple  one  (Fig.  37)  will 
answer  your  purpose  for  a  long  time.  When  you  become  a 


FIG.  37. 

pretty  good  workman  and  feel  the  need  of  something  better 
(for  a  first-class  bench  with  the  best  attachments  is  really  a 
great  help  toward  doing  good  work),  you  will  still  find  this 
first  simple  affair  very  useful  in  some  part  of  your  shop.1 
There  is  no  need  of  a  bench  being  made  of  stock  of  exactly  the 
dimensions  given,  so  if  you  have  a  pile  of  boards  and  joists 
to  draw  from  without  buying,  you  can,  of  course,  substitute 
other-sized  pieces,  provided  you  use  stock  heavy  enough 

1  If  you  can  afford  to  buy  one  ready  made,  you  cannot  do  better  than  to 
begin  with  such  as  are  sold  for  sloyd  or  manual-training  schools,  but  do  not 
get  a  very  small  one  unless  you  are  only  going  to  do  very  small  work.  Get  one 
as  large  as  you  can  afford.  A  second-hand  bench  can  often  be  bought  for  a 
small  sum,  but  be  sure  that  it  is  firm  and  steady. 


58  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

to  make  a  firm  bench.  Heavier  legs  and  top  (front  board) 
would  be  better,  and  in  fact  there  is  little  danger  of  making  a 
bench  too  solid. 

Before  beginning  to  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Square, 
Rule,  Saw,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  design  is  for  a  small  bench,  5'  10"  long,  2'  wide,  and  2' 
6"  high.     A  larger  one  can  be  made  on  the  same  principle.  ' 
You  will  require  for  stock  : 

i  piece  of  3"  X  4"  joist  10'  long. 

i  board,  -J*  thick,  planed,  12"  wide,  12'  long. 

i       "       "        "  "         10'     "       12'     " 

i       "       "        "  "         10*.    "        6'     " 

i  plank,  i^"  or  2"  thick,  planed,  5'  or  6"  wide,  2'  9*  long. 

i  strip,  |*  to  -J*  thick,  3"  or  4*  wide,  15*  long. 

Pine  is  good,  and  almost  any  cheap  wood  can  be  used.  Hem- 
lock is  not  very  suitable,  unless  for  the  legs.  Spruce  is  cheaper 
than  pine  or  whitewood,  and  can  be  used  for  economy,  but  is 
prone  to  warp  and  twist  and  should  be  thoroughly  nailed. 

First  make  the  legs  and  fasten   them  together.     To  do  this, 

1  The  reason  for  making  this  bench  5'  10"  long,  instead  of  cutting  a  12' 
board  into  two  lengths  of  6'  each,  is  that  it  is  hard  to  get  boards  sound  and 
square  at  the  ends,  and  so  it  is  best  to  allow  a  few  inches  for  waste.  Of 
course  your  bench  can  be  of  any  desired  length.  Six  or  eight  feet  is  suitable 
for  ordinary  work,  but  there  is  no  objection  to  making  it  as  much  longer  as 
your  space  and  material  will  admit.  The  height  should  bear  a  proper  relation 
to  the  height  of  the  workman.  No  definite  height  can  be  given.  Try  moving 
a  plane  back  and  forth.  If  your  right  elbow,  when  holding  the  plane,  is 
slightly  bent  and  your  back  about  straight,  the  height  will  be  not  far  from 
right.  Do  a  little  simple  work  at  a  table,  trying  different  heights,  and  you  can 
soon  tell  what  will  be  satisfactory.  If  the  bench  is  too  low,  you  cannot 
manage  your  work  well  and  your  back  will  get  tired  from  bending  over,  not  to 
speak  of  becoming  round-shouldered.  If  the  bench  is  too  high,  it  will  be  hard 
to  manage  your  work,  you  cannot  plane  well,  and  your  arms  will  be  tired 
from  holding  them  up  unnaturally  high.  A  bench  for  heavy  work  like 
carpentry  is  usually  rather  lower  than  one  for  cabinet-  or  pattern-making, 
while  a  carver's  bench  is  usually  higher. 


The  Workshop 


59 


take  the  joist  and  lay  it  on  two  boxes  or  old  chairs  (Fig.  38), 
which  you  can  use  temporarily  for  horses,  until  you  make  a 
pair.  See  whether  either  end  is  cut  off  squarely.  If  neither  is, 
mark  a  line  by  the  square  a  short  distance  (perhaps  half  an  inch, 
according  to  the  condition  of  the  end  of  the  joist)  from  one 


FIG.  38. 


end,  on  one  side  of  the  joist.  Carry  this  line  around  the  joist  by 
applying  the  square  to  each  side  successively,  and  saw  off  the 
waste  end  with  the  cross-cutting  saw.  Having  one  end  square, 
measure  from  that  end  2'  5*  and  mark  a  line  around  the  joist  as 
before.  Saw  this  piece  off,  and  using  it  as  a  measure  (but  not  as 
a  square),  mark  and  saw  off  three  more  pieces.  These  are  for 
the  legs. 

Next,  from  the  short  10"  board,  mark  and  cut  off  two  pieces 


FIG.  39. 

i'  10^"  long  in  the  same  manner  (Fig.  39),  seeing  first  that 
the  end  from  which  you  begin  to  measure  is  square.  You  do  not 
need  to  mark  the  under  side  of  the  boards,  but  only  the  top  and 
the  edges.  Now  square  a  line  i*  from  each  end  of  each  of  these 
3hort  boards,  and  start  three  nails  on  each  of  the  lines  by  driving 


60 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


them  nearly  through  the  board  (Fig.  40).     (See  Nailing.}     Next, 
place  the  end  of  one  of  these  boards  on  the  narrow  side  of  one 


FIG.  40. 


FIG.  41. 


of  the  legs,  and,  holding  it  firmly  in  position,  nail  it  securely  to 
the  leg.  You  must  take  pains  to  keep  the  leg  and  the  cross- 
piece  "  square."  Nail  only  one  nail  first  and 
then  adjust,  testing  with  the  try-square  before 
driving  the  other  nails  (Fig.  41).  Then  nail 
the  other  end  to  another  leg,  and  repeat  the 
process  with  the  other  board  and  the  remain- 
ing legs.  This  will  give  two  frames  like 
Fig.  42. 

Next,  fasten   the  sides  to  the   legs.     Take 
the    io*   board   and    mark  and  saw  off   two 
FIG.  42.  pieces  5'  10"  long  in    the   same  way  as   be- 

fore (Fig.  43).     At   distances  of   7"  and   12"  from   each   end  of 
each  board,  mark  lines  across  the  side  with  the  square  and  start 


FIG.  43. 


nails  between  these  lines  (Fig.  44).     Then,  fitting  these  lines  at 
the  outside  edges  of  the  legs,  nail  the  sides  securely  to  the  legs, 


The  Workshop 


61 


as  shown  in  Fig.  45.  But  drive  only  one  nail  through  into  each 
leg  at  first,  until  you  are  sure  that  the  frame  is  coming  together 
square  and  true  throughout.  Test  the  angles  with  the  square. 


FIG.  44. 

Stand  the  frame  on  as  level  a  surface  as  you  can  find  and  sight 
across  the  top  endways  and  crossways  to  see  if  either    corner 


FIG.  45. 

sticks  up  or  down.     If  the  top  is  not  true,  twist  the  frame  enough 
to  make  it  so,  which  you  can  easily  do  if  you  have  but  one  nail 


62  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


in  each  corner.  When  the  top  is  true  and  the  legs  at  right 
angles,  drive  in  the  rest  of  the  nails  (Fig.  45).  Be  sure  to  test  the 
top  for  winding,  as  just  said  (see  Part  V.),  rather  than  to  trust 
to  the  way  the  legs  stand  on  the  floor.  Floors  are  often  uneven, 
and  the  legs  may  not  be  cut  exactly  the  same  length.  Make 
the  top  true  and  the  legs  can  easily  be  made  to  fit  the  floor  after- 
wards. The  piece  of  10"  board  left 
over  you  can  fit  to  slip  in  between 
the  sides,  as  in  Fig.  45.  If  you  nail 
through  the  sides  and  top  into  this 
piece,  it  will  stiffen  the  bench.  In 


FIG.  46. 


FIG.  47. 


FIG.  48. 


making  a  long  bench  after  this  pattern,  it  is  well  to  insert  a  few 
pieces  of  plank  or  joist  between  the  sides  in  this  manner. 

Next,  put  on  the  top.  Cut  two  lengths  of  5'  10"  from  the  12" 
board.  Lay  them  in  position,  square  lines  across  as  guides 
for  the  nails  (as  before),  and  nail  them  down  to  the  legs  and 
cross-boards.  Also  drive  carefully  a  few  nails  at  the  edge 
down  into  the  sides  of  the  bench.  Sink  all  the  nail-heads 
well  below  the  surface  (as  much  as  ^")  with  the  nail-set  (see 
Nail- Set}. 

A  better  bench  can  be  made  by  using  a  plank  (say  a  2" 
plank,  planed)  for  the  front  of  the  top  (Figs.  46,  47,  48).  This 
bench  with  plank  front  is  much  better  than  the  common 
carpenter's  bench  just  described,  and  the  difference  in  ex- 


The  Workshop  63 

pense  is  but  slight.     It  is  easier  to  do  good  work  on,  as  it  is 
stiffer,  steadier,  and  much  better  to  pound  on. 

Of  course  a  thicker  plank  can  be  used  if  available.  Hard 
wood  is  best.  Maple  is  excellent  for  a  bench-top.  Take  par- 
ticular care  to  select  a  good  sound  plank,  from  the  centre  of  the 
tree  if  you  can  (see  Chapter  III.),  as  straight  and  free  from  wind- 
ing as  possible,  and  have  it  planed  so  as  to  be  straight  and  true. 
This  can  easily  be  done  at  any  properly  equipped  planing-mill. 

To  make  this  bench  with  a  plank  in  front,  you  can  proceed 
exactly  as  with  the  bench  just  described,  except  that  the  front 
legs  should  be  as  much  shorter  than  those  at  the  back  as  the 
plank  you  have  is  thicker  than  the  %"  board  used  for  the  top 
of  the  bench  just  described.  That  is,  if  your  plank  is  i-J"  thick 
the  front  legs  should  be  i"  shorter  than  the  back  ones.  Pieces 
must  be  cut  out  of  the  cross-boards  in  order  that  the  top  may  be 
even  (Fig.  46). 

The  simplest  way,  however,  is  to  make  the  bench  just  like  the 
preceding  one  until  you  come  to  the  top.  Then,  after  putting 
on  the  front  plank,  raise  the  back  top-board  to  be  flush  with  the 
plank,  instead  of  lowering  the  plank  to  be  flush  with  the  board. 
You  can  do  this  by  putting  small  pieces  of  board  of  the  required 
thickness  under  the  back  part  of  the  top  (Fig.  47). 

Some  workmen  prefer  having  the  back  board  of  the  bench  top 
lower  than  the  front  by  an  inch  or  so,  with  a  strip  fastened  on 
the  back,  and  sometimes  at  each  end,  so  as  to  be  level  with  the 
top  of  the  front  plank,  thus  forming  a  sort  of  tray  (Fig.  48) 
where  tools,  nails,  small  bits  of  work,  etc.,  can  remain  when  in 
use,  keeping  the  front  plank  clear  for  the  actual  operations. 
The  work,  if  large,  can  be  rested  on  the  back  strip  as  well  as 
the  front  part,  both  being  on  a  level. 

The  bench  can  be  all  filled  up  underneath  with  shelves, 
drawers,  cupboards,  compartments,  or  in  any  way  that  you 
wish,  but  at  first,  and  for  a  simple  bench  like  this,  it  is  as  well 
to  have  only  one  shelf,  as  shown  in  the  frontispiece.  You  can 


64  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

easily  put  this  shelf  in  after  the  bench  is  put  together.  You  can 
tell  better  whether  you  want  drawers  and  compartments  after 
you  have  worked  for  some  time  and  wish  to  make  a  more  com- 
plete bench. 

A  nice  bench  should,  of  course,  be  built  independently  of 
the  shop, — that  is,  be  complete  in  itself,  so  that  it  can  be 
readily  moved.  But  a  common  bench  can  sometimes  be 


FIG.  49. 

best  built  against  the  wall,  using  the  side  of  the  building  to 
support  the  back.  Sometimes  one  or  both  of  the  ends 
of  the  bench  can  be  advantageously  carried  to  the  walls 
of  the  room,  thus  requiring  legs  only  in  the  middle  or  at 
one  end.  But  such  arrangements  are  not  to  be  advised  if  you 
are  likely  to  wish  to  move  the  bench  before  you  have  used 
it  enough  to  pay  for  making  it. 

Figure  49  is  merely  suggestive.  The  process  of  construction  is 
the  same  as  already  shown,  except  that  you  omit  some  of  the  legs 
and  the  back  side-board,  a  saving  sufficient  to  allow  you  to  use  a 
plank  for  the  front  of  the  top.  As  the  floor  is  likely  to  be  uneven, 
you  can  first  saw  the  posts  a  little  too  long,  stand  them  in  line, 
stretch  a  cord  or  a  chalk-line  (see  Chalk- Line)  along  the  line  of 
the  front  edge  of  the  bench  at  the  proper  height  for  the  tops  of 


The  Workshop  65 

the  posts,  cut  the  posts  off  where  this  line  crosses  them,  nail  on  one 
end  of  the  cross-boards  at  right  angles,  and  then  fasten  the  other 
end  to  the  wall-studding,  sighting  and  testing  to  have  the  top 
straight  and  true,  as  in  the  case  of  the  bench  already  described. 
If  instead  of  vertical  studding  the  joists  of  the  wall  run  horizontally 


FIG.  50. 

(as  is  often  the  case),  you  can  easily  nail  cleats  on  the  wall  if  there 
is  no  horizontal  timber  at  the  right  height  to  nail  to. 

Bench-Vise. — The  kinds  shown  in  Figs.  50,  56,  57,  though 
not  as  good  as  some  more  improved  forms,  are  in  common 
use  by  carpenters,  and  will  answer  your  purpose  very  well 
for  ordinary  work — until  you  get  to  the  point  of  building  a 
first-class  bench. 


66 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


At  a  distance  of  about  14  "  from  the  end  of  the  bench  and  in 
the  middle  of  the  side  board  mark  the  point  a  (Fig.  45).  Bore  a 
hole  at  this  point  (see  Boring]  if  you  have  a  bit  a  trifle  larger 
than  the  screw  of  the  vise.  If  not,  using  this  point  as  a  centre, 
describe  a  circle  (see  Compasses)  with  a  diameter  a  trifle  greater 
than  that  of  the  vise  screw,  and  remove  the  wood  within  the 
circle  (see  Boring  and  Paring^)  Now  take  the  piece  of  \\"  or 

2  *    plank    which    is    to    make    the 

/-•  --9-~-yy    movable  jaw  of  the  vise,  and  mark  a 

line  lengthways  along  the  centre  of 
FIG.  51.  each  side  (Fig.  51).     At  a  distance 

of  about  8 "  from  one  end  mark  a 
point  upon  this  centre  line  and  make 
a  hole  for  the  vise  screw  as  before. 
The  nut  for  the  screw  must  now  be 
fastened  in  position  on  the  inner  side 
of  the  bench,  the  vise  screw  passed 
through  the  movable  jaw  and  the 
side  board,  and  the  handle  plate 
fastened  upon  the  face  of  the  jaw. 
FIG.  52.  You  can  now  open  and  close 

the  vise  by  the  screw,  but  the  mov- 
able jaw  needs  to  be  made  steady  and  the  end  projects  above 
the  top  of  the  bench.  Screw  the  vise  tight  together  and  slide  the 
movable  jaw  around  until  it  is  in  the  position  shown  in  Fig.  52, 
when  the  centre  line  on  the  back  side  of  the  jaw  will  cross  the 
edge  of  the  leg  a  few  inches  from  the  floor,  according  to  the  width 
of  the  jaw  and  the  degree  of  slant  given  it.  When  the  jaw  is  in 
this  position,  mark  from  the  back  side  the  lines  indicated  in  Fig. 
52,  and  saw  off  the  projecting  ends  of  the  jaw  by  these  lines,  which 
will  give  the  shape  shown  in  Figs.  37  and  50. 

Next  take  the  small  strip,  and  marking  points  upon  its  side  as 
shown  in  Fig.  53,  bore  holes  with  a  f*  or  \"  bit.  Screw  the  end 
of  the  strip  to  the  edge  of  the  movable  jaw  (being  careful  to  get 
it  at  right  angles  with  the  vertical  edge  of  the  jaw),  as  shown  in 


The  Workshop 


Figs.  50  and  53  (see  Screws). 
strip  crosses  the  post  of  the 
thicker  than    the  strip)   so 
that  it  will  pass  easily  be- 
tween   them.     Cover  these 
with  a  longer  piece,  making 
a  slot,  as  shown  in  Fig.  53, 
through  which  the  strip  can 
slide   freely.      If    the    two 


Just  above  and  below  where  this 
bench  nail  small  blocks  (a  trifle 


FIG.  53. 


FIG.  54.     RIGHT.        FIG.  55.    WRONG. 


blocks  are  no  thicker  than  the  strip,  you  can  put  pieces  of  paste- 
board between  them  and  the  post  to  make  the  slot  wide  enough  to 
let  the  strip  slide  through  freely.  Fit  a  pin  or 
piece  of  dowel  to  the  holes  in  the  strip.  The  use 
of  these  holes  and  the  pin  is  to  keep  the  face  of 
the  jaw  approximately  parallel  to  the  side  of  the 
bench.  Contrivances  for  this  purpose  can  be 
bought.  After  the  jaw  is  all  fitted,  bevel  or 
round  the  edge  on  the  face  side  at  the  top  (see 
Bevelling],  and  you  can  also  bevel  or  round 
all  the  front  edges  if  you  wish.  The  vise  is 
now  in  working  order.1 


FIG.  56. 


1  This  vise  is  fitted  slanting,  so  that  the  slide  at  the  bottom  comes  on  the 
outside  of  the  leg  and  at  the  same  time  in  the  centre  line  of  the  movable  jaw  in 
line  with  the  screw,  A  common  form  has  the  movable  jaw  upright,  the  sliding 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


The  important  point  with  this  vise  (and  in  fact  with  any  vise) 
is  to  have  the  inside  surface  of  the  jaw  parallel  with  the  surface 
of  the  side  of  the  bench,  so  that  the  wood  will  be  pressed  equally 
at  all  points,  else  it  will  slip  just  when  you  wish  it  to  be  securely 


FIG.  59. 


FIG.  58. 

held.  Be  sure  that  the  vise  is  not  open  more  at  the  top  than  at 
the  bottom  (see  Figs.  54  and  55). 

The  holes  bored  in  the  side  of  the  bench  are  to  support  the 
end  of  a  long  board  (Fig.  50). 

If  you  cannot  afford  to  buy  a  vise,  or  have  to  work  where  there 
is  none,  there  are  a  number  of  makeshifts  with  which  you  can 
get  along  quite  well,  though  not  as  rapidly  or  conveniently. 

bar  being  mortised  into  it  and  sliding  through  a  mortise  cut  in  the  leg,  as  shown 
in  Figs.  56  and  57.  If  you  wish  to  make  this  kind,  study  Alortising,  in  Part 
V.,  and  lay  out  and  cut  the  mortise  in  the  leg  before  nailing  the  cross-board  to 
it  (Figs.  41  and  42).  This  is  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  bench  to  make 
nicely,  and  you  can  spend  a  good  deal  of  pains  upon  it.  If  you  have  not  yet 
the  proper  tools  to  make  this  mortise  you  can  mark  it  out  and  have  it  cut  for  a 
very  small  sum  at  a  wood-working  mill  or  shop.  When  nailing  the  cross-board 
upon  the  legs,  bear  in  mind  to  put  this  leg  in  the  right  place.  Fig.  58  shows 
a  simple  arrangement  with  an  additional  post,  or  two  posts  can  be  put  together 
and  one  half  the  notching  done  in  each  (Fig.  59). 


The  Workshop 


69 


Carpenters  often  nail  a  piece  on  the  side  of  the  bench  (Fig.  60), 
which  holds  boards  for  planing  fairly  well,  for  common  work,  but 
tends  to  bruise  the  ends  of  the  boards  a  little  against  the  cleat, 
and  requires  a  knife, 
or  something,  driven 
in  at  the  other  end  of 
the  boards  to  hold 
them  with  any  degree 
of  security.  Another 
cheap  substitute  is 


shown     in     Fig.    61. 

This  holds  boards  of   regular  sizes  quite  well.      Thin  pieces  can 

be  held  tighter  by  wedging,  as  shown. 

Another  sim- 
ple contrivance, 

and  more  of  a 

vise,    is     easily 

made  by  boring 

a   couple    of 

holesin  a  board, 

say  6  *  wide  and 

12"    long,    and 

screwing  it   loosely  to  the   side  of  the  bench  (Fig.  62),  making 

the  holes  in  the  board  larger  than  the  diameter  of  the  screws  so 

that  it  will  be  free 
__     to  play.    By  insert- 
ing the  piece  to  be 


FIG.  61. 


FIG.  62.  FIG.  63. 

held  in  the  end  and  double  wedging  the  opposite  end  (Fig.  63) 


;o 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


the  piece  will  be  held  fairly  well  (see  Wedges).  For  thin 
boards,  blocks  can  be  inserted  to  make  the  jaw  parallel  with 
the  side  of  the  bench.  An  upright  vise  made  on  this  principle 

x  -   -  ^-—— is  often  used  to  hold  saws  for  filing. 

>^L=__l^g:— __!__  • IT  If  you   can   find    an  old   wooden 

^=-'  hand-screw,  you  can  use  one  jaw 
(sawing  off  the  ends  if 
necessary)  for  the  nut 
to  go  inside  of  the 
bench, leavingthe  other 
for  the  movable  jaw, 
using  one  screw  to 
tighten  or  loosen  the 
FIG.  64.  FIG.  65.  vise  and  the  other  to 

keep  the  jaw  parallel  with  the  side  of  the  bench.  You  will  re- 
quire no  description  to  contrive  something  of  this  sort.  Vises  on 
somewhat  this  principle  can  be  bought,  attachable  and  detach- 
able at  will. 

The  jaw  in  Fig.  64  can  be  hinged  upon  the  strip  at  the  bottom 
and  the  latter  fastened  to  the  side  of  the  bench.  The  jaw  can 
then  be  tightened  or  loosened  by  the  screw.  This  gives  a  square 
grip  only  when  the  jaw  is  vertical  (Fig.  65).  You  can  put  in 
blocks,  however.  The  longer  the  jaw  the  less  objectionable  the 
slanting  grip  becomes,  of  course. 

Always  try  to  devise  some  such  expedients,  which  you  can 
think  up  for  yourself,  when  you  are  without  the  regular  ap- 
pliances, for  even  a  poor  vise  is  better  than  to  hold  pieces  in  the 
hand  or  to  push  them  against  chairs  or  tables  or  the  wall. 

For  nice  work  by  far  the  best  "vise  of  -moderate  cost  is  that 
shown  in  Fig.  143,  which  has  been  in  use  for  a  long  time  by 
wood-workers  of  the  better  class. 

There  are  a  number  of  excellent  iron  vises  (some  with  jaws  of 
wood,  and  also  with  an  "  instantaneous  grip  ").  Some  of  them 
are  admirable,  but  quite  costly  compared  with  the  common  screw. 


The  Workshop  71 

You  can  work  quite  well  with  a  good-sized  common  iron  vise 
by  fitting  wooden  blocks  or  leather  or  rubber  to  the  inside  of  the 
jaws,  to  save  marring  your  woodwork,  though  a  regular  vise  for 
wood  is  much  to  be  preferred. 

Bear  in  mind  when  doing  work  that  requires  to  be  held  at 
unusual  angles,  or  in  fashioning  odd-shaped  pieces,  that  you 
can  usually  get  the  angle  or  position  required  by  a  combina- 
tion of  hand-screws  or  clamps  with  the  bench-vise  as  sug- 
gested in  Figs.  66  and  67. 


FIG.  66.  FIG.  67. 

Bench-Stop. — You  must  have  something  on  the  forward 
end  of  the  bench-top  to  push  your  work  against  for  planing 
and  other  operations.  A  simple  and  good  way  is  to  use  one 
or  two  stout  screws  (Fig.  68).  These  can  be  screwed  in  so  as 


FIG.  68.  FIG.  69.  FIG.  70. 

to  project  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  which  will  answer  for 
the  greater  part  of  your  work,  and  the  height  can  be  changed 
when  necessary  with  the  screw-driver,  The  heads  of  the 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


screws  will  be  sharp  enough  to  hold  the  work,  and  a  stop  of 
this  kind  will  answer  your  purpose  very  well  for  common 
work.  The  wooden  stop  (Fig.  69)  has  the  advantage  of  not 
making  any  nicks  in  the  end  of  the  wood,  which  is  important 
in  nice  work,  such  as  furniture,  but  for  common  work  screws 
are  just  as  good,  except  that,  as  they  are  left  permanently 
sticking  from  the  bench,  you  may  dull  your  tools  against 
them  or  scar  your  work.  This  applies  to  a  common  bench. 
Of  course  for  a  really  nice  bench  with  a  tail-screw  the  regular 
stops  should  be  used  (Fig.  143). 

Carpenters   sometimes   nail   a   small   piece  of   board,  with  a 
V-shaped  notch  at  one  end,  to  the  top  of  the  bench  to  hold  boards 
or  joist  for  planing  on  the  edge  (Fig.  70).      Sim- 
ply   nailing     a     strip 


FIG.  71. 


FIG.  73. 


across  the  end  of  the  bench  (Fig.  71),  and  setting  the  nails  well 
in,  will  do  to  push  boards  against  for  planing  for  common  work. 

Iron  contrivances  (which  can  be  raised  or  lowered)  can  be 
bought  for  a  small  sum  and  are  convenient  for  common  work, 
especially  for  thin  pieces.  Sink  them  deeply  enough  in  the  bench- 
top  so  that  when  lowered  nothing  will  project  to  injure  the  tools 
or  the  work. 

The  old-fashioned  bench-stop  shown  in  Fig.  69  consists  merely 
of  a  square  stick  of  hard  wood,  one  or  two  inches  square,  fitted 
quite  tightly  to  a  hole  in  the  top  of  the  bench,  so  that  it  will  slide 
up  or  down  by  a  blow  from  the  mallet  or  hammer.  This  stop  will 
not  damage  the  work  or  the  tools.  To  make  the  mortise  for  this 
bench-stop,  see  Mortising.  Take  care  to  keep  within  the  lines, 
so  as  not  to  make  the  hole  too  big.  You  can  easily  make  it  larger 
if  too  small. 


The  Workshop 


73 


The  stop  should  fit  tightly  and  should  be  set  with  a  very  slight 
slant  toward  the  work  (Fig.  72), — that  is,  the  mortise  should  be 
cut  slightly  slanting.  The  stop  should  be  of  hard  wood,  such  as 
maple.  If  the  top  of  the  bench  is  only  of  board  thickness,  screw 


FIG.  74. 

cleats  of  hard  wood  on  the  under  side  to  give  more  bearing  sur- 
face (Fig.  73),  or  the  continued  pushing  against  the  stop  will  be 
liable  to  get  the  hole  out  of  shape  so  that  the  stop  will  slant  the 
wrong  way,  when  the  work  will  be  apt  to  slip  or,  in  case  of  a  thin 
board,  jump  over  the  stop  (Fig.  74).  If  the  stop  wears  loose  in 
the  hole,  a  saw  kerf  is  sometimes  made  lengthways  in  one  side 
and  a  bent  piece  of  springy  wire  inserted,  or 
a  flat  spring  fastened  on  the  side  (Fig.  75). 
A  loose  stop  can 
r_^.  easily  be  wedged 


FIG.  75.  FIG.  76.  FIG.  77. 

(preferably  from  underneath),  and  it  is  sometimes  made  loose  on 
purpose,  the  wedging  tightening  the  stop  and  at  the  same  time 
giving  the  required  slant  (Fig.  72).  An  iron  plate  with  teeth  can 
be  screwed  on  top  of  a  wooden  stop  (Fig.  76),  or  a  screw  can  be 
inserted  (Fig.  77). 

Two  strips,  like  Fig.  78,  can  be  nailed  or  screwed  on  the  top 
of  the  bench  so  as  to  separate  V-fashion  (Fig.  79).     Two  wedges, 


74 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


like  Fig.  80,  can  then  be  made  of  such  a  taper  that  when  fitted 
between  the  strips  their  inner  faces  will  be  parallel.  By  tapping 
in  the  wedges  on  each  side  of  the  work  to  be  held  (Fig.  79),  it 
will  be  securely  fastened  without  injury.  If  the 
inside  edges  of  the  strips  and  the  outside  edges 
of  the  wedges  are  slightly  bevelled,  which  you  can 
do  with  a  plane  or  a  knife,  the  wedges  cannot 
jump  out  of  place.  The  best  way  to  fit  this  con- 
trivance is  to  make  the  wedges  first,  place  them  in  position  on  the 
bench  with  the  square  sides  inside  (facing  each  other),  and  then 
fasten  the  fixed  strips  outside  of  them.  Pushing  the  work  tends 
to  tighten  this  vise.  This  is  much  better  for  permanent  use  than 


FIG.  78. 


FIG.  79. 

the  notched  board  shown  in  Fig.  70.  If  you  have  a  good  vise 
you  will  not  often  have  occasion  to  use  such  contrivances,  but 
they  are  sometimes  useful  as  makeshifts. 

The  top  of  a  good  bench  should  be  as  true  and  as  smooth 
as  possible  (see  Plane  and  Scraper).  Rub  it  with  linseed  oil, 
wipe  it  off  with  a  rag,  and  after  a  few  days  give 
it  a  couple  of  coats  of  shellac  (see  Finishing). 

You  should  place  your  bench  so  that  when 
you  stand  at  it  you  will  face  the  light  and  not 
have  it  come  from  behind  you.     If  it  can  come 
from  the  forward  end  of  the  bench  and  also  from  behind  the 
bench,  as  shown  in  the  frontispiece,  it  will   be   best,  for  a 


FIG.  80. 


The  Workshop 


75 


cross-light  is  often  very  useful,  not  merely  that  you  may  have 
light  enough,  but  also  that  when  testing  your  work  with 
the  try-square,  straight-edge,  and  the  like,  any  inaccuracy 
may  be  detected  by  the  light  passing  through  the  crack  be- 
tween the  testing  tool  and  the  work,  and  also  when  sighting 
by  the  eye  alone.  Fasten  the 
bench  firmly  to  the  floor  (and  wall 
if  you  can)  with  screws,  cleats,  or 
L  irons. ' 

Avoid  chopping  on  the  bench 
top  or  whittling  it  or  boring  holes 
or  marring  it  by  saw-cuts  or  chisel- 
marks.  Do  not  use  paint,  varnish, 
or  glue  at  the  bench  if  you  can 
help  it.  If  necessary  to  do  so,  clean 
the  bench-top  carefully  when  you 
get  through.  Lumps  of  hardened  glue  will  hinder  you  and 
deface  your  work. 

Filing-Bench. — Yon  cannot  do  much  of  such  varied 
woodwork  as  you  will  undertake  without  having  to  do  a 
good  deal  of  metal  work.  It  is  a  poor  plan  to  do  such  work 
at  the  vise  you  use  for  your  woodwork,  or  even  at  the  same 
bench.  It  scars  and  defaces  the  wooden  vise  and  the  bench, 
and  the  particles  of  metal  are  bad  for  your  woodwork  and 
for  the  tools.  It  is  much  better  to  have  another  bench — if 
nothing  more  than  a  wide  shelf  or  a  box — for  such  work 
(Fig.  81).  You  will  find  suggestions  in  the  illustrations. 

An  iron  vise  is  the  proper  thing  for  holding  metal.  There 
are  many  different  kinds  at  various  prices,  but  one  of  the 
simple  patterns  will  probably  answer  every  purpose.  If  you 


FIG.  81. 


1  In  case  your  bench  is  in  the  house  and  you  wish  to  deaden  the  sound  and 
vibration  from  your  work  you  can  put  rubber  cushions  under  the  legs. 


76 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


have  room  for  only  one  bench  this  vise  can  be  put  at  the 

back  part  of  one  end. 

A  small  vise  can  be  made  of  a  hand-screw,  the  hand-screw  itself 

being  held  in  any  desired  position  in  the  large  bench-vise,  but 
metal  jaws  are  better  for  working  on 
metal.  You  can  make  a  rough  sort  of 
vise  for  metal-work  with  a  piece  of  stout 
board  or  plank  (Fig.  82).  Find  a  couple 
of  pieces  of  iron  with  screw  holes,  as  you 
can  probably  do  in  a  pile  of  waste  iron 
junk,  and  screw  them  on  the  board  and 


FIG.  83. 


FIG.  84. 


the  bench  to  form  metal  jaws.  The  vise  can  be  tightened  or 
loosened  by  means  of  a  big  screw  or  bolt  ;  or  the  board  can  be 
loosely  fastened  in  the  middle  and  tightened  by  wedging  below 
(Fig.  83).  A  screw  with  a  handle  to  turn  it  by  and  a  nut  for  the 
thread  is  better,  of  course.  Another  form,  such  as  you  will  find 
in  use  by  leather-workers,  can  be  easily  made  (Fig.  84),  and  works 


The  Workshop  77 

with  the  foot,  the  connection  between  the  jaw  and  the  treadle 
being  made  by  a  strap  or  rope.  You  can  make  a  vise  in  some  of 
these  ways  that  will  answer  quite  well  for  most  of  the  metal- 
work  you  will  have  to  do  for  some  time,  although  such  con- 
trivances are  less  reliable  and  less  convenient  than  a  regular 
iron  vise. 

An  anvil  is  often  useful  and  is  sometimes  combined  with  a  vise. 
It  should  have  a  flat  steel  surface  and  also  a  tapering  rounded 
(conical)  point.  An  old  flat-iron  does  quite  well.  You  can 
easily  find  some  way  to  keep  it  in  position  on  the  filing-bench. 
You  should  have  some  sort  of  anvil,  even  if  nothing  better  than  a 
junk  of  old  iron  (which  you  can  of  course  find  somewhere),  for 
you  will  be  continually  wanting  to  straighten  nails,  bend  wire,  and 
pound  pieces  of  metal.  Try  to  find  a  flat  plate  of  thick  sheet 
iron — \  "  thick  if  you  can — to  fasten  on  the  top  of  the  filing-bench 
(Fig.  81).  It  is  very  handy  for  many  anvil  uses,  straightening 
metal  and  nails,  and  for  much  pounding. 

Finishing-Bench. — Have  also  a  finishing-bench  (Fig.  91) 
if  possible, — if  nothing  more  than  a  shelf  or  box, — to  keep 
the  regular  work-bench  neat  and  clean  for  its  proper  uses,  for 
even  a  skilful  workman  can  hardly  avoid  making  a  mess 
when  it  comes  to  using  paint  and  varnish. 

Now,  while  there  are  many  of  you  who  can  afford  either 
singly  or  by  two  or  three  clubbing  together  to  fix  up  a 
shop  in  first-rate  style,  there  are  also  many  who  cannot 
afford  even  so  cheap  a  bench  as  that  just  described.  What 
can  you  do  in  such  a  case?  Only  one  thing — patch  up  a 
bench  out  of  whatever  old  stuff  you  can  find.  Patched-up 
makeshifts  are  not  to  be  recommended,  except  in  case  of 
necessity,  but  when  it  comes  to  the  pinch,  and  a  matter  of 
having  a  bench  made  of  whatever  old  materials  you  can  find 
or  having  no  bench  at  all,  by  all  means  make  one  of  boxes 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


and  anything  that  can  be  worked  in.      For  of   course  the 
boats,  skis,  squirrel-houses,  and  so  on,  must  be  made ! 

But,  whatever  you  patch 
up,  make  it  solid  and 
strong.  Do  not  try  to  work 
at  a  rickety,  shackly  apol- 
ogy for  a  bench  that  shakes 
and  jumps  and  sidles  all 
over  the  room  every  time 
you  saw  or  pound  or  plane. 
You  can  probably  get  all 
you  need  in  the  way  of 
boxes,  packing-cases,  and 
such  material,  at  very  little 
FlGt  8s>  or  no  expense.  The  illus- 

trations (Figs.  85  and  86)  are  merely  suggestions,  for  you 
must  use  your  own  ingenuity,  according  to  the  materials  you 
can  find.  Most  experienced  workmen  have  often  been 
obliged  to  work  at  much 
worse  benches  than  these, 
frequently  with  no  bench 
at  all. 


Those  of  the  boxes  which 
you  do  not  use  whole  you 
should  take  apart  carefully 
(see  Withdrawing  Nails). 
This  will  add  to  your  supply 
of  nails.  Use  nails  freely  in 
fastening  the  boxes  and 
boards  together  and  to  the 
wall  or  floor  wherever  allowable, 
strength. 


FIG.  86. 
A  few  screws  will  add  much 


The  Workshop 


79 


The  bench  shown  in  Fig.  86  calls  for  one  good  board  for  the 
front  of  the  top. 

Some  of  you  live  in  the  crowded  parts  of  the  city,  in  flats 
or  small  houses  where  there  is  no  possible  chance  for  a  shop 
of  any  kind.  Whatever 
woodwork  you  can  do  must 
be  carried  on  in  the  kitchen, 
or  some  other  living-room, 
where  even  a  small  bench 
may  be  out  of  the  question. 
Still  you  would  like  to  make 

such  small  work — model  boats,  for  instance — as  can  be  carried 
on  in  such  limited  quarters.  If  you  are  forced  to  use  the 
kitchen  table  for  a  bench,  try,  for  the  first  thing,  to  brace  or 
block  or  screw  it  to  make  it  steady,  for  unsteadiness  is  the 
greatest  hindrance  to  doing  good  work  at  such  a  bench. 

You  can  fit  a  good  board  to  the  table-top  with  cleats,  and  a 
stop  to  hold  the  work  (Fig.  87).  If  you  can  now  get  a  common 
iron  vise,  you  can  get  along  quite  well  for  small  work,  and  the 
board  and  attachments  can  be  quickly  taken  off  and  put  away 
when  the  table  is  needed  for  domestic  purposes.  You  can  easily 

contrive  some 
way  to  attach 
wooden  pieces 
or  leather  or 
rubber  to  the 
inside  of  the 
jaws  of  the 

FIG.  88.  vise'.   t0     save 

marring     your 

woodwork.  A  fairly  good  bench  can  often  be  made  from  an  old 
table  (as  a  kitchen  table)  by  screwing  a  plank  on  top  and  a  board 


8o 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


on  the  front  side,  and  bracing  the  legs  (Fig.  88).     The  plank 
should  be  screwed  on  from  underneath. 

If  you  can  get  hold  of  an  old  bureau  or  chest  of  drawers  you 
can  arrange  a  serviceable  and  compact  little  "  parlour  shop"  for 
small  work.  If  you  cannot  fasten  permanent  attachments  to  the 
bureau,  you  can  fit  a  removable  board  (Fig.  87),  and  you  will  be 
equipped  for  such  work  as  can  be  suitably  done  under  such 
circumstances — and  that  includes  quite  a  long  list  of  small  things. 
The  drawers  can  be  fitted  with  compartments  and  trays,  accord- 


FIG. 


FIG.  90. 


ing  to  what  you  have  to  keep  in  them  and  your  own  ingenuity, 
but  make  the  arrangement  simple.  Figs.  89  and  90  are  merely 
suggestions. 

The  best  way  to  arrange  your  tools  and  supplies  depends 
somewhat  upon  the  circumstances,  but  the  main  point  is  to 
have  the  most  convenient  place  for  each  thing  and  always  to 
keep  it  in  that  place  when  not  in  use.  The  first  part  of  this 
proposition  is  almost  as  important  as  the  last.  It  is  nearly 
as  bad  as  being  disorderly  to  keep  the  glue-pot  in  one  corner 
of  the  shop,  the  glue  in  another  corner,  the  glue-brush  in  the 
third  corner,  and  the  water  in  the  fourth, — which  is  no 
exaggeration  of  the  way  some  very  orderly  people  stow 
away  things,  and  is  about  equal  to  the  arrangement  of  the 
person,  of  whom  you  may  have  heard,  who  always  kept 
everything  in  its  place  and  that  place  the  floor!  The 
workshop  interior  shown  in  the  frontispiece  and  in  Figs.  91 
and  92,  and  the  various  other  illustrations,  furnish  sugges- 
tions which  may  help  you  in  the  arrangement  of  your  shop. 


The  Workshop 


81 


Have  everything  where  you  can  lay  your  hand  on  it  in  the 
least  possible  time,  the  tools  used  the  most  the  nearest  to 
you,  tools  that  go  together,  as  bit-brace  and  bits,  kept  near 
together.  Have  all  the  common  tools  right  within  reach, 
and  not  put  away  in  chests  and  out-of-the-way  drawers, 
just  because  you  have  seen  somebody  pack  away  his  tools 


FIG.  91. 

in  a  highly  polished  chest,  inlaid  with  forty  kinds  of  wood, 
and  containing  ninety-three  separate  compartments  and  trays 
and  seven  secret  drawers,  the  whole  cornered  and  strapped 
and  decorated  with  shining  nickel  plate !  Do  not  bedazzled 
by  that  sort  of  thing,  which  is  not  an  evidence  of  true 
system  and  orderliness,  but  merely  shows  poor  taste  and  a 
great  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  value  and  importance  of 
time.  Time  may  not  be  exactly  money  in  your  case,  but  it 
may  be  even  more  valuable,  and  can  be  spent  much  better 
than  in  running  around  after  tools  and  supplies,  and  making 

6 


82  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

ingenious  tool-chests.  To  be  practical,  five  minutes  a  day 
saved  by  having  things  convenient  and  in  place  means  about 
twenty-five  hours  in  a  year — which  means  a  boat,  a  sled,  or  a 
lot  of  Christmas  presents.  So  study  out  the  best  arrange- 
ment for  your  particular  shop  and  then  keep  things  in  order. 
When  working  keep  only  the  tools  in  actual  use  lying  around 


on  the  bench.  As  soon  as  you  are  done  with  a  tool  for  the 
operations  actually  in  hand,  put  it  back  in  place,  and  so  avoid 
the  confused  litter  seen  in  so  many  shops. 

Hang  saws  against  the  wall  on  pegs,  or  nails,  or  at  the  end 
of  the  bench.  Hang  all  tools  which  you  put  on  the  wall 
well  above  the  bench,  to  be  out  of  the  way. 

'L.^.j  planes  on  their  sides  or  ends,  for  obvious  reasons,  or 
arrange  a  little  block  to  raise  one  end  of  the  plane  slightly 
from  the  surface  of  the  bench  or  shelf.  The  last  way  is 
usually  more  convenient  than  to  lay  the  plane  on  its  side  or 


The  Workshop 


end.    Keep  planes  either  at  the  back  of  the  bench  or  against 
the  wall,  or  on  a  shelf  under  the  front  of  the  bench. 

Such  tools  as  squares,  bit-braces,  and  the  like  are  usually 
most  accessible  on 
the  wall,  in  some 
such  arrangement  as 
shown  in  the  front- 
i  sp  iec  e  .  A  con- 
v  e  n  i  e  n  t  way  to 
arrange  such  tools 
as  chisels,  gouges, 
and  the  like,  is  to 
keep  them  in  racks 
either  against  the 
wall  or  fastened  to 
the  back  edge  of 


the    bench,   accord- 
ing   to    circumstan- 


FIG.  93. 


ces.    Keep  each  tool  in  a  particular  place  in  the  rack  and  you 
will  soon  learn    to    reach   for    it    instinctively  without  any 

waste  of  time. 

Bits  can  be  kept  in  a  drawer 
or  box,  care  being  taken  to  ar- 
range them  in  racks  or  between 
partitions,  or  they  can  be  stuck 
on  end  in  the  racks  at  the  back 
of  the  bench.  A  good  way  is  to 
stick  each  bit  point  downwards 
in  a  hole  bored  by  itself.  Various 
FlG-  94-  forms  of  tool-racks,  which  you 

can  easily  arrange  for  yourself,  are  suggested  in  Fig.  93. 

Fig.  94  shows  a  rack  to  fit  on  the  back  of  the  bench,  an  excel- 
lent way,  in  common  use  with  movable  benches.    Get  a  board, 


84 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  95. 


say  3*  or  4"  wide  and  the  length  of  the  bench,  a  strip  from  %'  to 
%"  thick,  perhaps  i"  wide,  and  the  length  of  the  bench,  and  a 
strip  y^,"  thick,  perhaps  i"  wide,  and  perhaps  two  thirds  of  the 

length  of  the 
bench.  Saw  from 
this  last  strip  a 
number  of  blocks 
from  i"  to  2"  long. 
Arrange  these 
along  the  top  edge 
of  the  board,  ac- 
FIG-  95.  cording  to  the 

kinds  and  sizes  of  the  tools,  as  shown  in  Fig.  95.  Then  lay  the 
long  strip  on  them  (Fig.  96)  and  nail  it  through  each  block  with 
wire  nails  long  enough  to  reach  perhaps  two  thirds  through  the 
large  strip.  You  can  put  this  rack  together  by  first  nailing  at 
each  end.  Then  all  the  intermediate  blocks  can  easily  be  fitted 
in  place  and  nailed  one  at  a  time.  The  whole  can  then  be  screwed 
to  the  back  of  the  bench  so  that  the  tools  will  be  at  the  back 
(Fig.  94).  You 
can  make  part  of 
this  rack  solid 
and  bore  small 
holes  of  various 
sizes  for  bits, 
gimlets,  nail-sets, 
and  such  tools, 
which  would 
drop  through  the 

larger    spaces. 
„       ,        '     ,         ,  FIG.  97.  FIG.  98. 

Good  metal  tool- 
racks  and  -holders    can  be   bought,    but    the   home-made    ones 
answer  every  purpose. 


The  large  steel  square  can  be  hung  very  well  with  nails 


The  Workshop  85 

or  small  blocks  of  wood  bevelled  toward  the  wall  (Fig. 
97).  For  the  try-square  nail  a  rectangular  block  against  the 
wall  (Fig.  98).  A  smaller  block  nailed  in  front  will  hold 
another  smaller  square.  Slanting  saw-kerfs  in  another  block 
will  hold  scrapers  (Fig.  99).  Always  keep  your  oilstones  in 
shallow  boxes  for  protection  from  dirt.  You  can  easily  make 
one,  or  cut  a  depression  in  a  block  to  fit  the  stone, 
with  another  for  a  cover.  Fasten  one  end  of  your 
strop  to  a  strip  of  thin  board  (Fig.  100)  with  a  hole 
by  which  to  hang  it.  You  can  then  use  the  strop 
lying  flat  on  the  board  or  loose  in 
your  hand  for  curved  edges. 

Do  not  keep  nails  and  screws 
after  the  usual  domestic  fashion, 
— all  sizes,  shapes,  and  kinds  mixed 
up  promiscuously  with  a  lot  of 

metal  rubbish  and  carpet  tacks  in 

r  FIG.  99.  FIG.  100. 

some  old  box  or  pail.     You    will 

waste  twice  as  much  time  trying  to  find  what  you  want  as 
it  takes  to  keep  them  in  separate  boxes,  or  trays  with 
divisions.  A  good  way  is  to  use  either  small  open  boxes  or 
flat  open  boxes  with  divisions,  so  that  they  can  be  reached 
as  conveniently  as  possible.  Tin  boxes  or  canisters  or  pails 
(of  various  sizes),  such  as  cocoa,  coffee,  lard,  and  such 
substances  come  in,  are  good.  Put  labels  on  them  and 
arrange  them  neatly  in  some  accessible  place,  as  on  a  shelf 
over  or  at  the  end  of  your  bench,  or  in  a  cupboard  or  a 
drawer. 

Keep  scrap  boxes  for  old  pieces  of  metal  (iron,  brass,  etc.? 
in  separate  boxes),  so  that  you  will  know  just  where  to  look 
for  what  you  want.  Keep  a  brush  for  cleaning  off  the  bench 
and  the  work,  a  broom  for  the  floor,  and  a  box  for  shavings, 
sawdust,  and  chips. 


86  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Any  workman  is  liable  to  cut  or  pound  his  fingers,  so  have 
a  small  box  in  a  handy  place  with  some  neatly  rolled 
bandages  of  cloth,  some  surgeon's  plaster,  and  a  bottle  of 
witch-hazel  (hamamelis)  or  some  other  preparation  for  cuts 
or  bruises.  In  case  of  a  bruise,  or  if  you  pound  your  nail, 
put  your  finger  at  once  in  as  hot  water  as  you  can  bear.  Do 
not,  as  is  often  done,  put  glue  on  a  cut,  because  of  danger  of 
infection,  for  the  glue  is  made,  as  you  know,  from  animal 
refuse  and  is  not  always  in  a  pure  state. 

Do  not  leave  oily  rags  lying  around  in  your  shop  to  get 
wadded  into  a  pile  in  some  corner  and  catch  fire  by  spon- 
taneous combustion.  Either  put  them  in  the  stove  at  once, 
or,  if  you  want  to  keep  a  few,  put  them  in  a  stone  jar  or 
covered  tin  box.  Matches  should  always  be  kept  in  a 
covered  metal  box  in  a  wood-working  shop. 

Lay  in  a  supply  of  strips,  waste  junks,  and  odd  pieces  of 
wood,  which  you  can  usually  get  at  any  shop  at  little  or  no 
expense.  They  will  be  very  useful  until  you  accumulate  a 
stock  from  your  own  work. 

Chopping-Block. — A  good  solid  chopping-block  is  a  great 
convenience,  so  watch  for  a  chance  to  get  a  section  of  a  tree, 
which  you  can  often  do  when  one  is  felled. 

Straight-Edge. — You  should  have  at  least  one ;  two  are 
very  useful — one  two  or  three  feet  long  and  another  five  or  six 
feet  long.  Making  them  is  simply  a  matter  of  skill  in  plan- 
ing. When  you  can  plane  well  enough  make  some  yourself 
of  well  seasoned,  straight-grained  white  pine  or  mahogany, 
or  other  wood  which  holds  its  shape  well.  Until  you  can 
do  it  accurately,  however,  get  some  good  workman  to  make 
one,  for  a  straight-edge  that  cannot  be  relied  on  is  really 
worse  than  none  at  all.  (See  Straight-edge.) 

Bench-Hook. — The  bench-hook  (Fig.  101)  is  very  useful  to 


The  Workshop 


hold  work  firmly  for  sawing,  planing,  etc.,  and  also  saves  some 
marring  of  the  bench-top.  Before  beginning  work  read  carefully 
Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw,  and  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

Take  a  board,  say  15"  long  x  6"  wide,  of  some  good  wood  like 


FIG.  10 1.  FIG.  102. 

white  pine,  making  both  ends  square.  The  surface  should  be 
planed  true  (see  Truing  Surfaces).  With  the  square  mark  the 
line  a  b  (Fig.  102)  accurately,  say  2"  (or  the  width  of  any  blocks 
you  may  already  have  for  the  end  cleats)  from  each  end,  but  on 
opposite  sides.  The  cleats  c  (Fig.  101)  must  be  true  and  the 
edges  square.  Bore  the  holes  in  the  cleats  with  a  bit  a  little 
larger  than  the  screws  (see  Boring).  Hold  the  cleats  exactly  in 
place  at  the  cross-line  a  b  and  start  holes  in  the  board  with  a 
gimlet  or  bit  a  little  smaller  than  the  screws. 
Countersink  the  holes  (see  Countersink). 
Use  screws  long  enough  to  get  a  good  hold* 
on  the  board  but  not  long  enough  to  go 
through  it  If  board  and  cleat  are  each  $" 
thick,  \\"  screws  will  be  suitable.  Screw 
one  of  the  middle  screws  in  each  cleat  firmly  '1G'  I03' 

to  a  bearing  (see  Screws),  keeping  the  cleat  as  nearly  on  the  line 
as  possible.  Adjust  each  cleat  exactly  in  place,  in  case  it  has 
slipped,  hold  it  firmly,  and  drive  the  remaining  screws.  Before 
screwing  on  one  of  the  cteats  mark  a  line  around  it  in  the  middle 
with  the  square,  as  shown  in  Fig.  103,  marking  first  across  the 


88 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


edge  o  (against  which  the  work  is  to  be  pressed),  from  that  line 
squaring  across  the  top,  and  then  across  the 
outer  edge.  After  this  cleat  is  screwed  on, 
carefully  saw  it  in  two  exactly  on  the  line. 
By  letting  the  saw  run  in  the  kerf  thus  made, 
you  can  cut  pieces  off  square.  Sometimes  one 
cleat  is  made  shorter,  so  that  you  can  saw 
clear  through  a  piece  without  damage  to  the 
See  Mitre-board,  page  92.  Two  bench-hooks 


FIG.  104. 
bench  (Fig.  104). 


are  useful  for  long  work. 

Horses  or  Trestles. — These  are  to  lay  stock  on  for  mark- 
ing and  sawing,  to 
put  large  work  to- 
gether on,  and  are 
convenient  for  var- 
ious uses  (Fig.  105). 

FIG.  105. 
Before     beginning 

work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square,  and  Saw,  in  Part 
V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  proper  height  for  your  horses,  as  for  the  bench,  depends 
somewhat  on  your  own  height,  and  may  be  anywhere  from  18"  to 
2  3*.  Experiment  with  boxes  to  find  the  most  convenient 

height.  If  too  low,  you  will  have  to 
stoop  over  too  much.  If  too  high,  it 
will  be  awkward  to  rest  your  knee 
on  a  board,  to  saw,  and  to  fit  work 
FIG.  106.  together. 

If  you  have  a  piece  of  fairly  good  joist,  from  i£*  x  3*  to  3"  x 
6",  you  can  use  it  for  the  tops  of  your  horses.  Saw  off  two  pieces 
from  2'  to  3'  long.  Mark  the  best  sides  for  the  top.  Mark  each 
end  like  Fig.  106  (showing  top  and  bottom)  with  the  pencil, 
measuring  carefully  so  that  the  bevel  or  slant  will  be  the  same  for 
both  legs  (see  Bevel}.  Holding  the  work  in  the  vise,  with  saw 


The  Workshop 


89 


FIG.  107. 


FIG.  108. 


FIG.  109. 


alone  or  saw  and  chisel  remove  the  pieces  marked,  so  that  the 
end  will  have  the  shape  shown  in  Fig.  107.  If 
you  use  the  chisel,  look  out  for  the  direction  of 
the  grain  at  each  corner  and  cut  well  outside  of  the 
line,  until  you  find  which  way  to  push  the  tool  in 
each  case  (see  Paring,  etc.).  Trim  these  cuts  as  ac- 
curately to  the  lines  as  you  can.  Get  out  eight 
pieces  for  legs,  of  such  a  length  that  the  horses 
will  be  of  the  height  decided  on.  First  make  them 
all  of  a  width,  then  saw  one  piece  off  the  right 
length  and  mark  the  others  by  it — not  each  new 
piece  by  the  one  last  marked.  Nail  or  screw  these 
legs  in  place  with  2"  nails  or  if*  screws,  keeping 
the  inner  edges  of  the  tops  of  the  legs  even  with 
the  tops  of  the  horses  (Fig.  108).  See  Nailing  and 
Screzvs,  and  look  out  for  splitting.  Get  out  the 
cross-braces  of  board  and  saw  the  ends  at  a  bevel 
to  correspond  with  the  slant  intended  for  the  legs. 
See  that  the  ends  of  these  cross-braces  are  cut  at 
the  same  bevel.  Use  the  bevel  if  you  have  one. 
If  not,  first  square  each  end  with  the  square  and 
pencil,  and  then  measure  carefully  equal  distances 

on  one  edge  before  drawing  the 
slanting  lines  (Fig.  109).  Nail  or 
screw  these  on  (Fig.  no),  adjust- 
ing the  legs  to  the  bevels  just  cut. 
Saw  or  plane  off  the  projecting 
ends  of  the  legs  on  top.  If  you 
plane,  do  so  both  ways  to  avoid 
splintering  (see  Plane}. 

Now  stand  the  horses  on  their 
legs  (Fig.   in).      If  they  should 
FlG-  IIJ-  happen  to  stand  firmly  and  evenly, 

see  first  if  it  is  not  due  to  unevenness  of  the  floor.     If  the  floor  is 
true,  and  they  stand  steadily  in  different  positions,  you  can  throw 


FIG.  no. 


90  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

up  your  caps,  for  you  will  have  beaten    the    average  workman. 

To    make    them     stand 
B^     evenly,     see      Scribing, 


FIG.  112. 


FIG.  113. 


Winding-sticks,  etc.,  in  Part  V.     Make  the  tops  of  the    horses 
as  smooth  as  you  can.     Scrape  them  and  keep  them  scraped  (see 

Scraper],  for   you   will    be    continually 

dropping  glue  or  varnish  on    them,   to 

harden    and    deface 

your    nice,    smooth 

work.      Wipe  them  off 

as     carefully     as     the 

bench-top.         These 

easily  made  horses  will 

answer    your    purpose 
FIG.   114.  for  a  long  time.1  FIG.  115. 

Mitre-Box. — Great  care  is  necessary  to  make  an  accurate 
wooden  mitre-box  (Fig.  1 16),  although  the  process  is  simple. 
Do  not  make  it  of  spruce  or  any  wood  liable  to  warp  or 
twist.  Pine  or  mahogany  is  good.  Use  stock  from  a  mid- 


1  Fig.  112  shows  a  nicer  pair  of  horses.  Take  two  pieces  of  pine,  or  any 
wood  not  likely  to  warp,  2"  x  3"  (or  4")  x  2^'  or  3',  mark  with  rule,  square,  and 
gauge  (see  Gauge),  and  cut  with  saw  and  chisel  the  shallow  gains  (Fig.  113) 
for  the  legs.  Make  them  the  same  depth  at  the  top  as  at  the  bottom  (Fig. 
114),  and  clean  them  out  as  accurately  to  the  lines  as  you  can.  Get  out  eight 
legs,  and  regulate  their  length  as  before.  Saw  the  upper  ends  on  a  bevel  (Fig. 
114)  corresponding  to  the  slant  they  are  to  have.  Nail  or  screw  them  in  place. 
You  can  glue  the  joints  for  additional  strength.  Fit  on  cross-pieces  and  finish 
the  work  as  described  above.  If  you  ever  need  horses  for  very  heavy  work 
you  can  make  the  legs  of  plank  or  joist  with  the  tops  cut  like  Fig.  115. 


The  Workshop 


FIG.  u6. 


die  board  if  you  can  (see  Chapter  III.).    A  mitre-box  can  be 
of  any  desired  size. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  and  Plane,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

A  good  size  is  from  i'  to  2  long  and  from  3*  to  6"  square  (inside), 
according  to  the  work  for  which  it  is 
to  be  used,  and  of  stock  •§"  thick. 
The  pieces  must  be  prepared  with 
care,  so  that  the  edges  shall  be  square 
and  the  surfaces  true,  particularly  on 
the  inside,  for  when  the  box  is  put 
together  the  sides  must  be  parallel  and 
square  throughout  with  the  bottom,  on 
the  inside.  Test  each  piece  with  the 
square.  Use  care  in  screwing  the  sides 
to  the  bottom  to  keep  them  exactly  in 
place  (see  Screws).  Nails  can  be  used, 
but  screws  are  better.  Lay  out  the 
lines  for  the  sawing  from  the  inside,  with 
the  steel  square  if  you  have  one,  or  with 
the  end  of  the  tongue  of  the  try-square. 
Mark  the  line  a  on  the  inside  of  the  side  x 
(Fig.  117),  squaring  from  the  bottom.  Mark 
the  point  b  at  a  distance  from  a  just  equal 
to  the  distance  between  the  sides.  Square  a 
line  at  this  point  from  the  bottom,  on  the  in- 
side as  before.  Carry  this  line  across  to  the 
side  y,  squaring  from  the  inner  surface  of  the  side  x,  and  mark 
the  point  c  on  the  inner  side  of  the  side  y.  Also  from  the  point 
c  draw  a  vertical  line  on  the  inside  of  y  corresponding  to  the 
line  a.  Carefully  mark  the  line  g  h,  which  will  give  the  mitre. 
The  lines  should  be  laid  out  from  the  inside,  because  it  is  against 
the  inside  surfaces  that  the  pieces  to  be  cut  in  the  mitre-box  will 
bear. 


FIG.  118. 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


Another  way  is  to  square  a  line  m  n  (Fig.  118)  across  the  top 
side  of  the  bottom  piece,  before  putting  together,  and  to  lay  off 
from  one  end  of  this  line  a  point  o  on  the  edge,  at  a  distance 
equal  to  the  width  of  the  bottom,  thus  fixing  the  points  m,  n,  and 
o.  Next  fasten  on  the  sides,  square  upright  lines  on  the  inside  of 
one  side  from  the  point  m  and  on  the  inside  of  the  other  side 

from  the  point  o.     The  diagonal  line/ 
q  (Fig  119)  will  represent  the  mitre. 


FIG.  119. 


FIG.  120. 


The  cuts  for  the  saw  to  run  in  should  be  made  with  a  back- 
saw  or  a  panel-saw.  In  a  similar  manner  square  on  the  inside 
two  upright  lines  opposite  each  other,  draw  a  line  across  the  tops 
of  the  sides  to  meet  these  lines  (squaring  from  the  inside  as  be- 
fore), and  make  a  saw-cut,  as  shown  by  the  middle  line  in  Fig. 
116.  This  will  be  very  useful  to  saw  strips  squarely  across. 

You  can  put  buttons  on  the 
outside  near  the  lower  edge  to 
catch  against  the  front  edge  of 
the  bench-top  if  you  wish,  or 
use  the  mitre-box  on  the  bench- 
hooks  when  necessary  to  hold 
it  firmly. 

A  very  useful  mitre-board  for 
sawing  strips,  mouldings,  and 
the  like,  can  be  made  with  two 
short  boards,  one  wider  than  the 
other,  being  sure  that  the  surfaces  and  edges  are  true  and  square 
(Fig.  120).  This  can  be  of  any  size.  A  good  size  is  from  i'  to 
2'  long,  6"  wide  (in  all),  and  of  stock  f"  thick,  but  it  is  better  to 


FIG.  121. 


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93 


make  the  narrow  piece  thicker,  perhaps  i^f  or  if".  Mark  the 
lines  first  on  the  bottom  of  the  narrow  piece,  then  on  the  edges, 
and  lastly  on  the  top,  as  with  the  mitre-box  just  shown,  to  ensure 
the  lines  being  at  the  correct  angles  with  the  surfaces  against 
which  the  wood  to  be  sawed  will  rest.  An  excellent  plan  is  to 
make  saw-kerfs  for  mitres  in  the  cleat  of  a  bench-hook  (Fig.  121), 
in  the  way  just  shown. 

Shooting-Board. — This  is  useful  for  squaring  edges  and 
small  surfaces  and  ends  with  the  plane,  and  for  jointing  edges, 


FIG.  122. 


^ij  1 1  i.'i 

FIG.  123. 

the  plane  being  pushed  forward  on  its  side  (see  Shooting- 
board,  in  Part  V.).  It  can  be  of  any  wood  which  holds  its 
shape  well.  Clear  white  pine  or  mahogany  is  good.  If 
carelessly  made  it  will  be  of  but  little  use.  The  stock 
must  be  planed  free  from  winding.  Several  forms  are  shown 
in  Figs.  122,  123,  and  124. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references.  The 
construction  is  plain  (Fig.  122).  Approximate  dimensions  are 
given,  Fig.  122  being  made  of  \"  stock,  Fig.  123  of  \"  and  \" 
stock,  and  Fig.  124  of  -J"  stock.  Screw  the  pieces  together  from 


94 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


the  under  side  (see  Screws).  See  tha.t  the  stop  or  cleat  a  is  put 
on  at  right  angles  to  the  edge  b.  Mark  the  lines  for  this  accu- 
rately with  knife  or  chisel.  A  groove  is  sometimes  cut  for  this 
stop,  but  this  is  a  refinement  that  is  not  at  all  necessary  if  you 


FIG.  124. 

do  your  work  well.  This  board  must  have  a  rabbet  or  groove 
cut  out  of  the  upper  piece,  as  shown,  to  give  room  for  shavings. 
In  Fig.  123  the  top  board  overlaps  the  ends  of  the  cleats  a  trifle, 
which  (with  the  spaces  between  the  cleats)  allows  the  escape  of 
the  shavings.  Arrange  some  way  to  hold  the  board  firmly  on 
the  bench.  Care  is  necessary  in  using  the  shooting-board  not  to 
plane  slices  from  your  left  hand.  Guides,  to  attach  to  the  plane 
to  ensure  square  edges,  can  be  bought  and  used  instead  of  the 
shooting-board.  Some  of  them  are  serviceable,  particularly  those 

adjustable    at  various 
angles. 

A  mitre  shooting- 
board  (Fig.  1 25)  is  also 
useful.  It  requires  to 
be  made  with  even 
more  care  than  the 
board  just  given,  but 
on  the  same  principle. 
The  angular  stop  or 

stops  must  be  fitted 
FIG.  125.  .  .  , 

to  make  the  angles  ex- 
actly 45°.  A  sawed  mitre  holds  glue  better  than  a  planed  mitre, 
but  sawed  mitres  often  require  trimming  with  the  plane  to  get 
a  perfect  fit. 


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95 


Form   for   Rounding  Sticks. — You  will  be  continually 
wanting  to  make  sticks    eight-sided 
or  round.     A  form  to  hold  the  pieces 
for  planing  is  a  great  convenience. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully 
Marking,  Gauge,  Plane,  and  Nailing, 
in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  ref- 
erences. 

Take  two  strips  and  plane  off  (or 
even  chisel  or  whittle)  one  corner  of 
each,  first  gauging  lines  equidistant 
from  the  corner  for  a  guide.  Then  nail 
the  two  strips  together,  with  the  bevels 
facing  each  other,  to  make  a  trough  as 
shown  in  Fig.  126.  Put  a  screw  in  one  end  to  push  the  work 
against,  push  the  form  against  the  bench-stop  or  screw 


FIG.  126. 


FIG.  127.  FIG.  128. 

it  in  the  vise,  put  the  piece  to  be  "  cornered  "  or  rounded  in  the 
V-shaped  trough,  and  it  will  be  firmly 
held  with  the  angle  upward.  Two  or 
three  of  these  for  larger  and  smaller 
pieces  will  be  very  useful.  They  are 
quickly  made  of  waste  strips.  If  you 
think  2  the  right  length  for  one  of  these 
forms,  for  instance,  make  it  a  foot  or  so 
longer,  and  after  it  is  made  saw  off  the 
extra  length  in  one  or  two  pieces,  which 
will  serve  as  an  extension  for  holding 
a  long  stick  (Fig.  127).  If  your  bench 
[has  wooden  bench-stops  you  can  make 
some  stops  with  notches  in  the  top  (Fig. 
FIG.  129.  128)  for  this  purpose. 


96 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


For  making  pieces  tapering,  as  well  as  eight-sided  or  rounding, 
you  have  only  to  modify  this  idea  by  planing  off  the  corners  in  a 
tapering  way  (Fig.  129).  See  Rounding  Sticks. 

Level  and  Plumb. — Before  beginning  work  read  carefully 
Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Gauge,  Saw,  and  Plane,  in  Part  V. 
To  make  a  plumb  like  Fig.  130,  take  a  piece  of  straight  wood 
from  3"  to  5"  wide  and  4'  or  5'  long  with  the  edges  straight 
and  parallel.     Gauge  a  line  down  the  middle  of  the  side, 
exactly  parallel  to  the  edges,  and  cut  the  notch  shown  at 
the  bottom.      Make  a  saw-kerf  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
line  and  another  beside  it  in  which  to  catch  the  end  of 


FIG.  130. 

the  line,  or  fasten  the  line  around  a  nail.     (See  Plumb.) 

To  make  the  level  shown  in  Fig.  131,  it  is  essential  that  the 
bottom  board  c  d  be  straight  on  the  lower  edge.  The  two  braces 
a  c  and  a  d  should  be  of  the  same  length.  The  strut  a  b 
should  be  nailed  across  at  the  middle  of  c  d  and  at  right  angles 
to  it.  The  essential  thing  is  to  have  the  line  a  b  exactly  at  right 
angles  to  c  d,  the  object  of  the  braces  a  c  and  a  d  being  to 
stiffen  the  board  c  d,  and  to  keep  the  lines  a  b  and  c  d  at 
right  angles  to  each  other.  The  plumb-line  is  hung  and  used  as 
in  the  case  just  given,  the  board  c  d  being  used  for  horizontal 
work.  (See  Level.) 

Cabinets,  etc.,  for  Tools  and  Supplies.— A  tool-chest, 
though  a  very  convenient  (and  in  fact  necessary)  thing  for  a 


The  Workshop  97 

workman  who  is  moving  around  from  place  to  place  or  who 
needs  a  safe  receptacle  in  which  to  lock  his  tools  in  a  fac- 
tory, is  not  at  all  necessary  in  a  private  shop,  nor  half  as 
convenient  as  to  have  the  tools  where  they  can  be  more 
readily  reached.  It  is  quite  a  piece  of  work  to  make  a  good 
one,  and  it  will  be  better  to  defer  such  a  job  until  you  feel 
the  need. 

An  old  case  of  drawers,  or  bureau,  or  cupboard,  or  some 
such  receptacle,  if  you  can  find  one,  will  be  useful  in  your  shop. 
A  bureau,  in  fact,  makes  a  good  tool-cabinet  or  substitute  for 
a  tool-chest,  but  if  you  keep  tools  in  drawers  make  compart- 
ments, trays,  or  divisions,  else  the  edge-tools  may  be  dam- 
aged, not  to  speak  of  the  inevitable  confusion. 

You  do  not  need  a  tool-cabinet  for  half  a  dozen  tools,  but 
when  they  begin  to  accumulate  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have 
and  a  good  thing  to  make,  if  there  is  occasion  to  keep  your 
tools  locked  up  or  if  you  have  limited  room.  Otherwise  it 
is  just  as  well  to  keep  the  common  tools  as  already  shown. 
A  cabinet  is  fully  as  useful  for  miscellaneous  articles  like 
brads,  hinges,  etc.,  as  for  tools. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  and  Screws,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

Perhaps  you  can  find  a  good  box,  wide  and  shallow,  all  made, 
or  if  deep  you  can  saw  off  part  to  make  it  shal- 
low (Fig.  132).  This  will  answer  perfectly  for 
a  shop.  For  the  house  you  would  of  course 
make  a  cupboard  of  new  wood.  The  size  must 
depend  on  circumstances.  Get  two  boards  for 
doors  that  will  just  cover  the  open  side  of  the 


box,  unless  the  box  cover  will  do,  which  is  un-  FIG-  J32' 

likely.  If  the  edges  are  not  good  you  must  allow  extra  width 
for  jointing.  Lay  these  boards  in  position  and  mark  the 
lengths  (on  the  side  next  the  box)  by  the  box  itself,  not  with  the 


98 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


square,  for  the  box  may  not  be  square.  From  the  lines  just 
made  mark  the  edges  with  the  square,  and,  with  the  straight- 
edge, connect  these  edge  marks  by  lines  on  the  face  sides. 
Saw  off  by  these  lines.  Mark  the  box  and  each  door  in  some 
way  (Fig.  133),  as  "  top,"  and  "  R  "  (for  right)  and  "  L  "  (for  left), 
or  by  marks,  as  X,  O,  8,  etc.,  to  prevent  finally  putting  them 


FIG.  133. 


FIG.  134. 


FIG.  135. 


FIG.  136. 


on  wrong  side  out  or  wrong  end  up,  as  is  very  likely  to  happen  if 
you  neglect  to  mark  them. 

Now  for  hinges.  The  best  thing,  on  account  of  the  weight  to 
be  hung  on  the  doors  and  the  poor  quality  of  the  wood  generally 
used  for  boxes,  will  be  iron  strap-hinges  made  for  work  of  this 
sort,  screwed  on  the  outside  (Fig.  134).  Two  will  do  for  each 
door.  Next  to  this  come  the  common  iron  hinges.  If  the  sides 
of  the  box  are  thick  and  firm,  three  of  the  common  long  and 
narrow  kind  (Fig.  135)  will  do  for  each  door.  If  the  sides  are 
thin  and  flimsy,  nail  or  screw  a  strip  inside  of  each  edge  and  use 

wider  and  shorter  hinges  (Fig.  136). 
To  fit  the  hinges,  see  Hinges.  The 
doors  being  hung,  take  them  off  while 
fitting  up  the  case.  Gauge  a  pencil  line 
around  the  outer  edge  and  each  end  of 
the  inside  surface  of  each  door,  where 
it  fits  against  the  edge  of  the  box,  as 
FIG.  137.  a  limit  beyond  which  racks  or  tools 

must  not  project  or  the  door  will  not  shut  (Fig.  137). 

The  fitting  up  of  the  cupboard  must  depend  on  its  size  and 
what  and  how  many  tools  or  supplies  are  to  be  kept  in  it.  Shelves 


The  Workshop 


99 


you  can  simply  make  of  the  right  size  and  nail  into  place  from 

the  outside,  using  the  rule  and  square  to  get  them  in  the  right 

positions.     The  illustrations  are  merely  suggestions  which  you 

can  alter  or  improve  upon  to  suit  your  par- 

ticular case.     Fig.  138  shows  another  form, 

and  Fig.    139    a   small    cabinet   with   one 

door,  with  suggestions  for  the  arrangement 

of  the  tools,  but  the  matter  of  fitting  up 

you  must,  of   course,   contrive    for   your- 

selves,  according    to    the    circumstances. 

Do  not  attempt  to  put  full-width  drawers  into  these  wide,  shallow 

cabinets,  as  is  often  done.     It  takes  an  expert  to  fit  drawers  that 

are  wide  and  short  (from  front  to  back)   and  they  are  not  always 

satisfactory  even  then.     If  you  wish  drawers,  either  put  in  a  row 


FIG. 


FIG.  139. 

of  narrow  ones,  or  use  the  simple  device  described  below  (Figs. 

141  and  142),  and  shown  in  Fig.  139.     (See  Drawers  in  Part  V.) 

To  fasten  the  doors  you  can  hook  one  on  the  inside  and  put 

a  button  (which  you  can  whittle  out)  on  the  outside  to  hold  the 


ioo          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


other.  If  you  wish  to  lock,  hook  one  door  inside  and  lock  the 
other  to  it  (see  Locks].  A  padlock  with  staples  and  iron  strap  is 
easier  to  put  on.  To  make  a  cupboard  of  boards  instead  of 
using  a  box,  you  simply  make  a  box  yourself  (see  Box-making  in 
Part  II.)  and  then  proceed  as  above. 

Fig.  140  shows  a  good  form  of  cabinet.  Make  a  tight  box, 
perhaps  2'  x  3'  x  6"  to  9",  the  sides  and  ends  of  -J"  stock,  and 
the  top  and  bottom  (/.  e.,  the  front  and  back  of  the  cabinet) 

of  £"  stock.  Saw  it 
open  carefully  on  the 
line  a  b  c  about  2"  or 
3"  from  the  top  or  face, 
according  to  the  thick- 
ness of  the  box,  first 
marking  the  ends  or 
*IG-  I4°'  the  sides  so  that  you 

can  finally  put  them  together  again  in  the  same  positions.  When 
nailing  the  box  together  omit  all  nails  which  could  interfere  with 
the  sawing.  They  can  easily  be  put  in  afterwards.  (See  Box- 
making^  in  Part  II.)  Carefully  smooth  the  edges  after  the  saw. 
Reckless  and  hasty  planing  will  spoil  the  joint.  Fit  two  strap- 
hinges,  or  three  of  the  common  kind.  Fit  up  inside  as  you  wish, 
and  fasten  with  hasp,  padlock,  or  a  lock  working  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  a  chest  lock. 

All  these  cabinets  must  be  firmly  fastened  to  the  wall,  for  they 
will  be  very  heavy  when  filled.  Do  not  trust  to  a  couple  of  nails 
or  screws,  the  way  amateurs  so  often  put  up  shelves  and  cabinets 
in  the  house.  A  ledge  of  some  sort  below  is  a  great  help  (Fig. 
140)  to  relieve  the  screws  or  nails  of  the  weight.  If  the  back  is 
not  very  strong,  do  not  trust  wholly  to  it,  but  add  cleats  outside 
'or  inside.  If  in  the  house,  stout  screw-eyes  of  heavy  wire  in  the 
sides  of  the  cabinet,  through  which  you  can  screw  to  the  wall, 
are  good  (Fig.  140). 

Good  shelves  can  be  made  by  arranging  empty  boxes  one  on 
top  of  another,  or  by  taking  a  wide,  thin  (flat)  box  and  fitting 


The  Workshop 


101 


shelves  across  it,  like  a  bookcase,  and  then  fastening  the  whole 
to  the  wall. 

A  small  drawer  can  be  fixed  under  a  shelf,  anywhere  in  your 
shop,  on  the  principle    often    used    in 
sewing-machine  tables  and  the  like,  by 
taking  a  small  box  of    suitable  shape, 
strengthening   one  corner  if  necessary 

.(Fig-     MO,    and 

pivoting  it  with 
a  screw  at  that 
corner  (Fig.  142). 


FIG.  141. 


FIG.  142. 


First-class  Bench. — You  can  do  all  the  work  you  will  be 
equal  to  for  a  long  time  on  such  a  bench  as  has  been  shown, 
but  some  day  you  will  want  a  first-class  bench,  such  as  Fig. 
143.  Do  not  attempt  anything  of  the  sort  at  first,  however, 


FIG.  143. 


though  if  you  can  afford  it,  such  a  bench  is  good  to  begin 
with.     A  few  details  are  given  in  the  Appendix. 

Other  Appliances. — A  number  of  other  appliances  and 
contrivances  will  be  found,  under  their  respective  headings, 
in  Part  V. 


A  FEW  ESSENTIALS  TO  SUCCESSFUL  WORK 

Do  one  thing  at  a  time.  Finish  one  job  before  you  start  two  or 
three  others. 

First  learn  to  work  well,  then  ability  to  work  quickly  will  come  of 
itself. 

Plan  your  work  to  the  end  before  beginning  to  use  your  tools. 

Make  drawings  carefully  to  scale  before  beginning  any  but  the 
simplest  work. 

Lay  out  the  work  carefully  on  the  wood  with  sharp,  accurate  lines, 
according  to  the  drawings,  measuring  everything  with  exactness  at 
least  twice. 

Cut  the  work  accurately  with  sharp  tools  to  the  lines  you  have  laid 
out. 

Keep  testing  the  accuracy  of  the  work  with  the  square,  straight- 
edge, rule,  level,  or  plumb. 

Keep  your  tools  sharp  and  in  good  order. 

Have  the  most  convenient  place  for  each  tool  and  always  keep  it  in 
that  place  when  not  in  use. 

Do  your  work  thoroughly  and  strongly.  Do  not  half  make  it. 
Do  not  half  fasten  it  together.  The  only  time  you  will  regret  thor- 
ough work  is  when  you  have  to  take  it  apart  again. 


103 


"  The  labor  is  small,  the  pastime  is  great." — GOETHE. 


PART  II 


CHAPTER   VI 

ARTICLES  TO  BE  MADE  IN  THE  WORKSHOP 

EVEN  if  you  are  able  to  use  tools  quite  well,  you  may 
still  not  know  how  to  go  to  work  to  make  some  par- 
ticular thing,  so  it  is  quite  important  to  know  how  to  lay  out, 
put  together,  and  finish  different  kinds  of  work. 

The  number  of  things  you  can  make  is  legion.  The  num- 
ber it  is  worth  while  for  you  to  make  is  much  smaller. 
Amateurs  often  say  that  the  work  they  do  themselves  costs 
more  (even  counting  their  own  labour  as  nothing)  than  to 
hire  the  work  done,  and  it  is  one  aim  of  this  book  to  prevent 
that  undesirable  result,  in  some  cases  at  least. 

The  number  of  things  which  you  can  make  more  cheaply 
than  you  can  buy  grows  smaller  every  year.  Many  things 
can  now  be  bought  ready-made  for  less  than  you  would  have 
to  pay  for  the  materials.  It  is  foolish  to  take  the  time  and 
money  to  make  many  of  the  games  and  toys,  for  instance, 
sold  so  cheaply  nowadays.  A  wheelbarrow  is  in  itself  a 
good  thing  to  make,  but  it  can  be  bought  so  cheaply  that  it 
is  hardly  worth  while  to  make  one.  It  is  true  that  some  of 
these  things  you  can  make  better ;  although  not  cheaper,  than 
you  can  easily  buy  (a  sled  perhaps) ;  but,  as  a  rule,  your  time 
can  be  better  spent  than  upon  this  class  of  objects,  and  you 
will  find  but  few  such  given  here. 


104          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Things  like  whistles,  pea-shooters,  and  clappers,  which  are 
so  familiar  to  every  boy  and  require  no  more  instruction  to 
make  than  is  handed  down  and  around  from  boy  to  boy,  are 
not  given  here,  as  a  rule.  A  few  other  things  which  you 
might  perhaps  look  for,  such  as  tennis  rackets  and  snow- 
shoes,  are  omitted,  because  they  require  more  special  know- 
ledge and  skill  than  most  beginners  can  be  expected  to  have. 
It  is  easy  enough  to  see  how  to  make  a  tennis  racket,  for 
instance,  so  far  as  the  general  idea  is  concerned  ;  but  simply 
bending  a  loop,  fastening  it  to  a  stick,  and  lacing  the  loop, 
does  not  make  a  tennis  racket.  The  holes  for  the  stringing 
must  be  made  in  a  particular  way,  the  stringing  must  be 
done  properly,  and  the  whole  affair  must  balance  or 
"  hang  "  right,  or  be  of  little  use.  It  is  better  to  buy  such 
things. 

You  boys,  and  many  of  your  elders,  like  to  try  all  the 
new-fangled  ideas  as  fast  as  they  come  out,  and  it  is  well 
that  you  do,  but  you  (as  a  class)  accept  them  "  for  keeps  " 
only  after  they  have  stood  the  test  of  many  trials.  A  large 
book  could  be  filled  with  descriptions  of  the  novelties  which 
have  appeared  within  my  remembrance,  but  out  of  this 
number  I  can  count  on  my  fingers  all  that  have  come  to  stay. 
You  will  find  all  the  novelties  you  can  attend  to  (and  more) 
in  the  magazines,  etc.,  so  I  have  been  rather  conservative  in 
my  selection,  knowing  that  you  will  permanently  accept  but 
the  best  of  the  new  ideas  and  come  back  in  the  end,  year 
after  year,  to  the  same  old  things,  with  only  such  additions 
as  have  stood  the  test  of  actual  use. 

The  objects  included  embrace  a  sufficient  variety  of  types 
to  form  a  basis  of  experience  and  practice,  in  different  kinds 
of  work  and  in  various  details,  from  which  you  can  launch 
out  into  any  of  these  new  plans,  or  any  experiments  of  your 
own  which  you  may  wish  to  try,  and  thus  supply  for  your- 


The  Workshop  105 

selves  the  information  lacking  in  many  of  the  popular 
descriptions. 

Before  you  make  anything  bulky  measure  your  shop  door 
or  window  to  see  that  you  can  get  it  out  after  you  have 
made  it.  This  may  seem  a  superfluous  caution,  but  there 
have  been  many  cases  where  people  have  spent  much  time 
in  making  things  which  could  not  be  taken  from  the  room  in 
which  they  were  made  without  tearing  out  the  door  or 
window  casing.  Even  Robinson  Crusoe,  you  know,  built  a 
boat  so  far  from  the  water  that  he  could  not  launch  her. 

Do  not  be  deceived  by  all  the  complicated,  new-fangled 
variations  of  familiar  things  which  abound  in  the  popular 
publications.  Try  to  make  everything  as  simple  as  you  can. 
Look  askance  on  contrivances  that  are  all  tangled  up  with 
springs,  and  levers,  and  complicated  mechanism,  and  study 
them  well  before  you  begin  to  make  them. 

First  figure  the  cost  of  the  object  you  intend  to  make. 
This  book  is  not  to  do  your  work  for  you,  but  to  put  you  on 
the  right  track  to  do  it  yourselves,  so  read  Estimating,  page 
54,  and  the  whole  of  Part  I  had  best  be  read  before  you 
begin  to  make  the  things  described  hereafter. 


CHAPTER  VII 


A   FEW   TOYS 

Wooden  Swords,  Knives,  and  Daggers. — Before  be- 
ginning work,  read  Marking,  Knife,  Whittling,  Paring, 
Rounding  Sticks,  Rasp,  File,  and  Sandpaper,  and  look  up 


FIG.  144. 


any  other  references.  The  construction  of  those  shown  in 
Fig.  144  is  too  obvious  to  require  special  description.  First 
Cut  the  general  outline  as  shown,  then  round  or  pare  or 


A  Few  Toys  107 

shave  to  the  thickness  required.  If  you  have  a  bow-saw  or 
scroll-saw,  it  will  save  much  time  in  shaping  the  outlines, 
or  you  can  have  them  sawed  at  the  mill.  If  you  stain  these 
weapons  with  various  colours,  as  red,  black,  yellow,  etc.,  and 
in  various  patterns,  and  shellac  them  neatly  (see  Finishing), 
you  can  turn  out  quite  a  formidable  array  of  awe-inspiring 
weapons.  They  should  be  made  of  some  straight-grained 
and  easily  whittled  wood.  Nothing  is  better  than  white 
pine. 

To  make  a  sword  like  that  shown  in  Fig.   145,  first  select  a 


FIG.  145. 

piece  of  straight-grained  wood  (ash  or  any  strong  wood)  about 
2\'  in  length,  ^"  thick,  and  i"  wide.  About  4"  from  one  end 
make  a  mark.  From  this  mark  taper  the  edges  to  the  other  end. 
Do  not  taper  the  stick  too  gradually.  Then  draw  a  line  along 
the  centre  of  each  side  and  taper  from  this  centre  line  to  the 
edges,  leaving  the  edges  about  -jV'  thick.  Next  get  out  two 
pieces  of  wood  £"  thick  and  4"  long  (some  dark-coloured  wood 
can  be  used  for  contrast).  Nail  one  of  these  pieces  with  brads 
on  each  side  of  the  4"  space  left  for  the  handle.  Next  get  a  piece 
4"  long,  J"  thick,  and  f "  wide  (see  Fig.  145).  Mark  it  as  shown, 
making  the  marks  for  the  holes  (iV')  so  tnat  the  outside  edge  of 
one  will  be  just  i"  from  the  outside  edge  of  the  other.  Then 


io8          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


bore  these  holes  carefully  (see  Boring)  and  cut  out  the  wood  be- 
tween them  with  a  knife  or  chisel  (being  careful  about  splitting) 
and  shape  the  outside  as  marked.  Slip  the  blade  through  the 
hole  in  the  guard  you  have  just  made  up  to  the  handle  and  nail 
the  guard  to  the  blade. 


Wooden  Snake. — This 


imitation  reptile  (Fig.  146)  if 
well  made  will  (when  grasped 
at  the  middle)  by  a  slight 
movement  of  the  hand  undu- 
late and  writhe  in  a  very  life- 
like manner,  as  you  may  know, 
so  do  not  be  eager  to  terrify 
your  feminine  relatives,  or 
those  of  other  boys,  too  much. 


Before  beginning  work  read 
carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Knife, 
Saw,  and  Rounding  Sticks.  The 
snake  can  be  of  any  size  —  say 
from  2'  to  6'  long  and  from  i"  to 
2"  in  diam.  Select  a  piece  of 
straight-grained  wood,  —  w  h  i  t  e 
pine  or  any  wood  easy  to  work. 
First  see  that  the  stick  is  square,  then  make  it  hexagonal  (six- 
sided),  then  taper  it  to  the  general  shape  of  the  snake,  and  finally 
round  and  smooth  it  (Fig.  147).  Remember  not  to  use  sand- 
paper in  the  smoothing,  as  the  grit  will  dull  the  tools  yet  to  be 


1G' 


FIG.  147. 

used.     The  head  you  must  whittle  or  carve  according  to  your 
ingenuity  and  skill.     The  mouth  can  be  cut  with  a  fine  saw. 
The  snake  having  been  shaped,  mark  pencil  lines  lengthways 


A  Few  Toys  109 

along  the  middle  of  the  top  and  bottom  (except  at  the  head),  and 
cut  with  a  knife  a  little  slit  or  groove  merely  wide  enough  to  hold 
a  fine  cord  (like  fish-line).  This  can  be  done  with  a  fine  saw  (as 
a  back-saw),  using  the  teeth  only  at  one  end  of  the  saw  blade, 
but  much  care  is  required  and  the  stick  must  be  firmly  clamped 
or  held  in  the  vise.  You  will  probably  do  it  more  easily  with  the 
knife.  Mark  equal  spaces  (Fig.  148)  of  £"  to  2",  according  to 
the  diameter  of  the  snake,  from  the  neck 
to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  end  of 
the  tail.  If  you  make  these  marks  as  near 
together  as  f ",  the  snake  will  look  more  natural,  as  the  notches 
will  not  have  to  be  so  wide,  but  you  will  have  to  cut  more  of 
them.  Number  these  sections  so  that  you  can  finally  put  them 
together  again  in  the  right  order.  With  the  knife  or  chisel  notch 
in  to  the  centre  from  each  side  at  each  of  the  marks,  or  use  the 
saw  and  knife  or  chisel,  until  the  body  of  the  snake  is  cut  into 
sections  (Fig.  148).  Put  the  sections  together  again  by  sinking 
a  fine  strong  cord  in  the  longitudinal  grooves  in  the  top  and 
bottom.  Set  the  cord  in  place  with  glue  (see  Gluing),  and 
fasten  with  little  staples  (which  you  can  make  of  bent  pins),  or 
something  of  the  sort,  at  the  end  of  each  section. 

Set  beads  in  the  head  for  eyes.  Sandpaper  the  whole  with  fine 
sandpaper  (see  Sandpaper],  Paint  in  imitation  of  whatever  kind 
of  snalte  you  prefer  (see  Painting],  using  red  for  the  inside  of  the 
mouth. 

Windmills. — These  are  made  in  a  great  variety  of  forms. 
A  few  patterns  which  can  be  readily  constructed  of  wood 
are  given  below.  Bear  in  mind  to  make  them  strong,  as 
they  are  under  very  great  strain  in  a  violent  wind,  and,  also, 
that  the  larger  they  are  the  stronger  they  must  be;  for  little 
models,  you  know,  are  much  stronger  in  proportion  than 
large  structures  made  after  the  same  designs.  Dimensions 
are  given  merely  to  help  illustrate  the  principles  of  con- 
struction. The  windmills  will  work  just  as  well  if  made 


1 10          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

larger  or  smaller,  within  any  reasonable  limits.  They  should 
be  made  of  straight -grained  white  pine,  whitewood,  or  some 
wood  easy  to  work.1 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Knife,  and  Paring,  and  look  up  any  other  references.  In 
case  of  using  heavy  stock,  see  also  Drawknife,  Spokeshave,  and 


t 


FIG.  149. 


FIG.  150. 


Plane.  To  make  a  very  simple  form  (Fig.  149),  take  two 
sticks,  say  8"  x  i"  x  i",  and  halve  or  notch  (see  Halving)  each 
piece  at  the  centre  (Fig.  150),  so  that  when  put  together  they  will 
form  a  cross  with  arms  of  equal  length.  Bore  a  hole  through 
both  pieces  at  the  centre  to  loosely  fit  the  pin  upon  which  the 
vanes  are  to  turn  (see  Boring].  Upon  the  ends  of  each  stick 
mark  diagonal  lines  (Fig.  150)  slanting  in  opposite  directions,  or 
so  that,  if  you  revolve  the  cross  edgeways  and  look  in  turn  upon 
each  of  the  four  ends,  the  lines  will  all  slant  the  same  way.  This 

1  You  can  attach  your  windmill  to  a  building  or  set  it  up  on  a  pole,  or  you 
can  easily  make  a  small  trestle-work  tower,  built  of  small  sticks,  on  the  top  of 
which  you  can  place  the  windmill,  with  a  small  keg  (to  represent  a  hogshead 
or  tank),  and  thus  have  a  very  good  imitation  of  the  large  mills  used  for  pump- 
ing water.  Small  windmills,  if  you  wish  to  go  further  into  the  subject  than 
comes  within  the  scope  of  this  book,  can  be  used  to  do  any  light  or  "play" 
work  by  having  them  turn  a  bent  shaft  (or  any  eccentric  movement),  connect- 
ing with  a  piston-rod  or  revolving  drum  ;  or  various  other  attachments  can  be 
applied,  according  to  your  ingenuity. 


A  Few  Toys  1 1 1 

is  essential,  for  the  next  operation  is  to  shave  each  of  the  sticks 
down  towards  these  lines  until  perhaps  £"  thick  (Fig.  150),  and 
you  can  readily  see  that  if  these  vanes  are  not  turned  the  same 
way  the  windmill  will  not  revolve.  When  this  shaping  is  done 
fasten  the  sticks  together  with  brads  (see  Nailing).  The  remain- 
ing part  is  very  simple 
(Fig.  151),  perhaps  i'  ^ 
long  and  £"  thick,  with 
the  broad  vane  made  thin, 
as  the  only  object  of  this 
is  to  act  as  a  weather-vane 
to  keep  the  windmill  FIG.  151. 

headed  toward  the  wind,  and  if  made  thick  and  heavy  the  whole 
affair  will  not  balance  well. 

The  revolving  cross  you  can  now  fasten  with  a  nail  or  screw 
upon  the  end  of  the  part  last  made  (Fig.  151)  so  that  it  will  re- 
volve freely.  Find  the  point  at  which  the  whole  windmill  will 
balance  over  your  finger  or  a  stick,  and  bore  a  vertical  hole 
through  the  horizontal  stick  at  this  point.  Through  this  hole 
loosely  screw  or  nail  the  windmill  on  the  end  of  a  stick,  slightly 
rounded  to  prevent  friction  (Fig.  151).  Sandpaper  the  whole 
with  rather  fine  sandpaper  (see  Sandpaper}. 

You  can  paint  in  one  or  more  colours,  if  you  wish  (see  Paint- 
ing). The  vanes  can  be  painted  in  light  and  dark  bands  crossways, 
causing  an  appearance,  when  revolving, 
of  concentric  rings  (like  a   target).     By 
FIG.  152.  having  two  axles  or  spindles  (Fig.    152) 

two    sets  of  vanes    can  revolve  at  once, 
and,  by  slanting  the  vanes  of  the  two  sets 

in  opposite  ways,  the  two  will  revolve  in 
FIG.  153.  ,.        /  ' 

contrary  directions. 

The  weather-vane  can  be  made  of  two  pieces  (Fig.  153). 

A  more  elaborate  affair  (Fig.  154)  is  made  on  similar  principles, 
but  requires  more  care.  The  construction  is  obvious.  Before 
beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw, 


ii2          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


Plane,  Knife,  Spokeshave,  Drawshave,  Rounding  Sticks,  and  look 
up  any  other  references.  The  general  dimensions  of  the  one  illus- 
trated are:  length  of  main  frame  (in  which  spindle  turns)  9", 
height  of  one  end  4^'',  height  of  the  other  end  2^";  length  of 
weather-vane  (from  main  frame)  10",  width  at  end  4^";  length 
of  revolving  fans  i',  width  at  ends  2".  The  spindle  is  held  in  the 
main  frame  on  a  slant  (Fig.  155)  to  lessen  any  tendency  to  slip 
out,  so  the  hole  through  which  it  passes  should  have  a  cor- 
responding slant  (see  Boring).  The  revolving  fans  or  vanes  are 
reduced  to  round  pins  at  the  small  ends  and  fitted  tightly  into 

holes  bored  in  the  head  of 
the  spindle,  all  the  vanes 
being  turned  to  have  the 
same  slant.  Care  will  be 
required  to  bore  these 
holes  so  that  the  vanes 
will  be  equidistant  and  re- 
volve in  the  same  line. 

The  weather-vane  is  set 
in  a  slanting  groove  cut 


FIG.  154. 


FIG.  155. 


in  the  bottom  of  the  main  frame  (Fig.  155),  and  fastened  with  a 
couple  of  nails  or  screws.  You  can  cut  this  groove  by  making 
two  saw-kerfs  and  paring  out  the  wood  between  with  a  chisel. 
The  bent  nail  or  wire  shown  on  the  top  of  the  spindle  in  Fig. 
154  is  to  keep  the  latter  from  jumping  out  of  the  frame  from  a 
sudden  change  of  wind.  The  vanes  should  all  be  shaved  down 
until  they  are  quite  thin  at  the  ends. 

Set  up  and  finish  this  windmill  like  the  one  just  described. 

A  form  which  is  good  practice  in  whittling,  and  upon  which 


A  Few  Toys 


you  can  also  exercise  your  artistic  faculties,  is  the  "  Happy  Jack  " 
shown  in  Fig.  156.  Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Mark- 
ing, Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Knife,  Rasp,  and  File,  and 
look  up  any  other  references.  Fourteen  inches  is  a 
good  height  for  the  figure  itself.  The  outline  of  body 
and  head  can  be  sawed  from  a  f "  board  and  the  edges 
trimmed  and  rounded  and  the  details  cut  with  a  knife, 
or  rasp  and  file  can  be  used  for  the  edges.  The  arms 
are  made  of  separate  pieces.  Bore  holes  in  the  outer 
ends  of  the  arms  to  hold  the  paddles  (see  Boring}. 
Also  bore  holes  lengthways  into 
the  arms,  from  the  ends  next  the 
body,  and  into  these  holes  tightly 
drive  the  ends  of  a  stiff  metal  rod 
long  enough  to  also  pass  through 
the  body  at  the  shoul- 
ders (Fig.  156).  Be- 
fore actually  driving 
this  rod  into  both 
arms  you  must  bore 
the  hole  through  the 
body.  The  holes  in 
the  arms  should  be 
smaller  than  the  rod, 
so  that  it  may  drive 
in  tightly  without 
danger  of  getting 
loose,  but  the  hole 
in  the  body  must  be 
larger  than  the  rod, 
that  the  latter  may 
revolve  easily  in  it. 

Bore  in  from  the  cen-  FIG- 

tre  of  each   shoulder  as   carefully  as  you  can,  until   the  holes 
meet,    rather    than    attempt   to   bore    clear  through   from    one 


ii4          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


side,  Put  in  the  rod  and  drive  on  the  arms,  but  not  quite  up  to 
the  shoulders.  In  driving  on  the  arms  be  sure  to  keep  the  holes 
for  the  paddles  in  the  right  positions,  so  that  the  pad- 
[o  GToJ  dies  will  be  in  line  as  shown — that  is,  so  that  when  one 
FIG.  157.  points  directly  upwards  the  other  will  point  directly 
downwards.  Also  bore  a  hole  upwards  between  the  legs 
for  the  rod  upon  which  the  figure  turns,  and  screw  or 
nail  a  piece  of  metal  (Fig.  157),  with  a  hole  for  this  rod, 
on  the  bottom  of  the  legs  (Fig.  156).  Fig.  158  shows  a 
way  to  put  on  the  hat.  The  paddles  can  be  made  from 
FIG  8  a  snmS^e»  which  will  save  the  labour  of  tapering  the 
thickness  towards  the  ends.  The  paddles  must  be  set 
obliquely,  or  turned  part  way  around,  as  in  the  case  of  any  wind- 
mill. When  set  at  the  proper  angles  the  man  will  spin  around 
while  the  paddles  are  revolving.  Sandpaper  the  whole  (see 
Sandpaper],  and  paint  in  various  colours  (see  Painting). 

A  set  of  boats  to  sail  around  in  a  circle  is  not  hard  to  make 
(Fig.  159).  Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking, 
Rule,  Square,  Saw,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

Take  two  sticks  from  2'  to  4'  in  length,  and  from  f"  to 
square,  of  any  fairly  strong 
wood.  Halve  these  sticks  at 
the  middle  (see  Halving)  and 
fasten  them  together  in  the 
form  of  a  cross,  strengthening 
the  joint  (weakened  by  the 
halving)  by  nailing  or  screw- 
ing on  a  piece  of  board  above 
or  below,  as  shown  in  Fig.  159. 
The  boats  can  be  whittled 
from  a  piece  of  board  on  edge 
and  fastened  to  the  ends  of  the 
sticks  by  halving  (Fig.  160),  FlG-  J59- 

as  well  as  nails  or  screws,  or  they  can  simply  be  flat  pie-es  of  board 
shaped  as  in  Fig.  161  and  screwed  or  nailed  on  top  of  the  sticks. 


A  Few  Toys 


FIG.  160. 


FIG.  161. 


In  the  first  case  the  halving  had  best  be  done  before  the  sticks 

are  fastened  together.     One  mast  with  a  simple  leg-of-mutton  sail 

will  answer  for  each  boat.     A  little  experimenting 

will  show  you  how  much  to   haul   in   the  sheet. 

Each  boat  must,  of  course,  "come  about"  and 

"jibe"  once  in  every  rotation  of  the  apparatus. 

Sandpaper  with  rather  fine  sandpaper  (see  Sand 

paper],    and    paint    as   you   wish    (see   Painting). 

The  whole  affair  is  balanced  and  pivoted  on  top 

of  a  pole  in  the  same  manner  as  the  windmills  just 

described,  which  see. 

A  steamer  with  screw  propeller  can  be  made 
from  a  piece  of  board  on  edge,  shaped  as  shown 
in  Fig.  162,  a  small  windmill  with  short  and  broad 
fans  (Fig.  163),  serving  for  the  screw.  Before  beginning  work 

read  carefully  Mark- 
ing, Rule,  Square,  Saw, 
Knife,  Spokeshave,  and 
look  up  any  other  ref- 
erences. This  boat 
must  be  made  of  a 
board  so  as  to  give  a 
thin  section  (Fig.  164), 
in  order  that  the  screw 
may  not  be  shielded 
from  the  wind,  for  this 
vessel  must  always 
head  to  windward  or 
the  screw  will  not  re- 
volve. To  ensure  this 
the  fore  and  aft  sail 

mUSt  alwa^S  be  keP* 
set  and  the  sheet  close- 

hauled.     This    sail    answers  the    purpose  of   the  weather-vanes 
of    the    windmills  just   described,     It  can   be   macle  of  tin   or 


FIG.  162. 


n6          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


any  sheet  metal,  or  even  of  thin  wood.  The  rest  of  the  rigging 
and  the  smokestack  you  can  arrange  as  you  wish.  The  bottom 
of  the  rudder  can  be  supported  by  a  little  strip  extending  aft 
from  the  keel.  For  the  other  details  of  the  work,  see  the  wind- 
mills already  described. 

Water-wheels. — An  undershot  wheel,  turned  by  the 
water  passing  beneath  (Fig. 
165),  can  be  easily  made.  It 
can  be  of  any  desired  size, 
and  of  any  wood  readily 
worked. 


Before  beginning  work  read 
carefully  Marking,  Rule, 
Square,  Saw, 
and  look  up 
any  other  ref- 
erences. 

One    like 
Fig.  166  can 

FIG.  165.          be  made  by 
simply    nail- 
ing  a   set   of    small   boards    or    paddles    in    a   radial    arrange- 
ment between  two    disks   of   wood.       A   dowel   or   broomstick 
will    do    for    the    shaft    and  should    be    fitted    tightly    in    the 
hole  bored    through  the  wheel  (see  Boring),  but   should   turn 
freely  in  the  bearings    at  the    side.     It    will    make   a 
rather  neater  job  to  shape  the  paddles  as  in  Fig.  167, 
^    ^      so  that  when  put  together  the  wheel  will  look  like  Fig. 
1 66,   but  this  is  not  at  all  necessary,   and  it  will  work 
just    as  well    to    make    plain    rectangular  paddles  and 
FIG  167    s'mply  nail  tne  d'sks  on  the  outside  edges  (see  Nailing]. 
If  you  have  no  saw   with    which  to    get    out  the  disks 
you  can  have  them  sawed  at  the  mill,  or  you  can  work  them 


FIG.  166. 


A  Few  Toys 


117 


out  by  describing  the  required  circles  and  sawing  a  hexagon  out- 
side of  the  line  with  a  common  saw,  when  the  circle  can  be  fin- 
ished with  shave,  hatchet,  chisel,  or  knife  (see  Paring).  Divide 
the  circumference  of  each  disk  into  as  many  parts  as  there  are 
paddles  and  draw  lines  on  the  side  to  the  centre,  by  which  to 
nail  the  paddles  in  the  right  position.  Start  the  nails  on  these 
lines  and  drive  them  nearly  through  before  placing  the  paddles 
in  position.  Then  nail  one  disk  to  the  paddles,  turn  the  wheel 
over  and  nail  on  the  other  disk.  It  is  essential  to  a  neat  job 
that  the  paddles  should  all  be  of  the  same  width.  First  make  one 
edge  straight.  From  this  edge  gauge  the  desired  width  on  all  the 
pieces  (see  Gauge]  and  saw  or  plane  or  trim,  with  knife,  chisel,  or 
shave,  exactly  to  the  line.  If  you  make  the  paddles  as  shown  in 
the  cut,  first  square  lines  across  at  equal  distances  from  one  end 
(Fig.  167),  and  with  a  gauge  set  at  a  point  equal  to  the  thickness 
of  the  disks  make  lines  parallel  to  each  edge,  and  with  the  saw 
or  saw  and  chisel,  or  even  a  knife,  remove  the  pieces  marked  (see 
Paring) . 

The  overshot  wheel  (Fig.  168)  is  harder  to  make,  but  is  a 

I 


FIG.  168.  FIG.  169. 

livelier  wheel.     It  is  put  together  upon  the  same  principle 
as  the  wheel  just  shown,  except  that  the  paddles,  which  do 


n8          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


not  project  beyond  the  circumference  of  the  disks,  are  not 
placed  radially,  but  so  that,  with  the  addition  of  another 
set  inserted  to  connect  them,  they  form  buckets. 

To  lay  off  the  lines  for  the  buckets,  divide  the  circumference 

of  each  disk  as  before,  and  from 
the  centre  describe  a  small  circle, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  169.  From  the 
points  on  the  circumference  draw 
lines  tangent  to  the  small  circle. 
These  lines  will  give  the  positions 
for  the  bottoms  of  the  buckets. 
To  complete  the  buckets  mark 
from  the  circumference  equal  dis- 
tances on  these  lines,  and  from 
these  last  points  draw  lines  as  ab  to 
the  next  points  on  the  circumfer- 
ence. First,  nail  together  with 
only  the  bottoms  of  the  buckets 
(on  the  lines  ca).  Then  fit  in  the 
other  pieces,  to  complete  the 
buckets,  on  the  lines  ab.  The 
ends  of  these  last  pieces  should 
properly  be  bevelled  (see  Bevel- 
ling) to  make  a  fairly  tight  joint. 
The  rest  of  the  work  is  the  same  as  for  the  undershot  wheel.  A 
larger  form  (but  harder  to  make)  is  suggested  in  Fig.  170.  See 
note  under  Windmills,  above. 

Play  Village.— It  is  capital  fun  for  several  young  people 
to  design  and  build  a  miniature  village,  and  it  is  certainly 
an  instructive  and  quite  inexpensive  pastime.  Such  a  vil- 
lage, planned  and  made  recently  by  a  family  group  of  half 
a  dozen  youngsters,  and  facetiously  named  "  Totlet  Town," 
was  constructed  entirely  of  old  boxes  and  packing-cases  of 


FIG.  170. 


120          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


all  sizes  up  to  three  feet  long,  waste  pieces  of  board,  shingles, 
etc. ;  but  when  painted  and  arranged  in  a  corner  of  the  lawn, 
with  dirt  roads,  and  paths,  small  evergreen  shade  trees  and 
hedges,  well-sweeps,  miniature  fences,  and  other  accessories, 

„    it    made   so   pretty  a 


picture  as  to  be  the  ad- 
miration of  all  who 
saw  it.  If  you  have 
as  good  a  time  in  mak- 
ing such  a  village  as 
these  young  people 
did,  the  experiment 
will  be  a  success.  You 
can  easily  think  up 
many  additions  to  the 
suggestions  here 
given. 

The  buildings  were 
made  by  s  e  le  c  t  i  n  g 
boxes  of  the  desired 
proportions,  sawing 
out  spaces  for  the 
doors,  adding  the 
FlG-  I?I-  roofs  and  any  other 

alterations.  The  chimneys  were  made  of  blocks  painted 
red.  The  doors  were  made  of  pieces  of  board  and  hinged 
with  leather.  Bay-windows  and  the  like  were  made  of 
blocks  of  the  required  shape  nailed  to  the  boxes.  The 
windows  and  blinds  were  represented  by  painting.  Some  of 
the  roofs  were  shingled  with  pieces  of  shingles.  A  sugges- 
tion for  a  light-house  is  shown  in  Fig.  171. 

Considerable  care  in  the  use  of  the  tools  is  called  for  to 
make  these  buildings  neatly.     Much  of  the  effect  depends, 


A  Few  Toys 


121 


also,  upon  the  care  with  which  the  painting  is  done  (see 
Painting),  and  the  taste  used  in  the  selection  of  the  colours. 
Brighter  colours  are  suitable  for  a  little  village  of  this  sort 
than  would  be  in  good  taste  for  real  houses.  White  with 
green  blinds  is  good,  of  course ;  or  yellow  can  be  used.  The 
roofs  should  be  painted.  Red  roofs  are  very  effective. 

Before  beginning  work,   read  carefully  Marking,   Rule, 
Square,  Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,   Withdrawing  Nails,  etc. 


FIG.  172. 

Dolls'  House. — The  house  shown   in  Fig.    172  is  quite 
easily  made,  and  a  shallow  affair  like  this  has  the  advantage 


122          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

of  being  more  convenient  than  a  deep  one  about  arranging 
the  contents. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

Pine  and  whitewood  are  suitable,  or  any  wood  can  be  used  that 
is  not  hard  to  work. 

It  can  be  made  ot  any  desired  size.  Three  or  four  feet  wide 
and  a  little  higher  in  the  middle  will  probably  be  suitable  for 
ordinary  cases,  and  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  will  be  a  good  depth 
(from  front  to  back). 

The  construction  is  plain.  The  roof  and  sides  are  to  be  cut 
from  dressed  stock  of  uniform  width,  and  from  £"  to  ^"  in  thick- 
ness. 

Carefully  true  one  edge,  if  it  is  not  already  true,  and  get  out  the 
bottom  board,  then  the  upright  sides,  and  then  the  roof.  The 
bevels  at  the  highest  point  of  the  roof  and  where  the  roof  joins 
the  sides  you  must  mark  with  the  bevel  (taking  the  slant 
from  your  drawing),  or  you  can  find  it  by  arranging  two  strips 
to  cross  at  the  desired  angle  and  marking  the  bevel  by  them 
(see  levelling}.  To  saw  these  bevels  requires  much  care.  Draw 
lines  by  the  square  on  both  sides,  as  well  as  the  angle  on  the 
edge,  and  putting  each  board  in  the  vise  saw  carefully  and 
steadily. 

The  three  floors  should  be  narrower  than  the  outside  of  the 
house  by  just  the  thickness  of  the  stock  to  be  used  for  the  back, 
and  rectangular  openings  must  be  sawed  from  one  of  the  back 
corners  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  to  allow  the  dolls  to  pass  from  one 
story  to  another.  If  the  sides  of  the  house  are  14"  wide,  make 
these  floors  13^"  wide,  arid  use  £"  or  f "  stock  for  the  back.  Also 
mark  and  saw  out  the  windows.  To  do  this,  first  bore  a 
series  of  holes  inside  of  the  line  (see  Boring]  and  cut  out  what- 
ever wood  may  be  necessary  until  you  make  a  slot  in  which  to 
start  the  saw.  Any  roughness  left  from  the  holes  can  be  trimmed 
with  knife,  chisel,  or  file  (see  Paring).  Nail  these  parts 


A  Few  Toys 


123 


FIG.  173. 


together,  just  as  in  making  a  box,  carefully  sighting  across  the  face 
to  see  that  the  front  and  back  do  not  wind,  or  use  winding-sticks 
(q.  v.).  Also  test  with  the  square  to  see  that  the  sides  are  at  right 
angles  with  the  bottom.  Get  out  stock  for  the  back  carefully 
(with  the  boards  running  up  and  down)  so  that  the  boards  will 
be  square  at  the  bottom,  and  when  these  pieces  are  fitted  in  place 
to  form  the  back  they  will  ensure  the 
house  being  square.  The  slant  by 
which  to  cut  the  top  of  the  back  can 
be  laid  off  by  measurement  from  your 
working  drawing  or  the  back  can  be 
put  in  place  and  the  lines  marked 
directly  from  the  under  side  of  the 
roof.  When  fitted,  nail  the  back 
securely  in  place,  first  cutting  the 
windows  as  before.  Then  fit  in 
the  upright  partitions,  first  cutting  the  doorways.  The  staircase 
can  be  made  easily  if  you  have,  or  can  saw  from  the  corner  of  a 
larger  piece,  a  triangular  strip  which  can  be  cut  in  short  sec- 
tions to  use  for  the  steps.  Nail  these  to  a  thin  strip  of  board 
(from  the  under  side)  and  fasten  the  whole  in  position  (Fig. 
173).  The  chimney  can  be  made  of  a  block  with  a  notch  sawed 
to  fit  the  roof,  or  it  can  be  made  of  four  pieces,  box-fashion. 
Glass  for  the  windows  can  be  held  in  place  by  gluing  strips  of 
cloth  or  paper  around  the  edges,  or  thin  strips  can  be  nailed 
around  with  fine  brads.  Thin  strips  can  be  nailed  around  the 
window  openings  on  the  outside,  if  you  wish. 

All  the  pieces  should  be  neatly  planed  and  scraped  before 
putting  together,  and,  when  entirely  put  together,  the  whole 
should  be  carefully  sandpapered  with  fine  sandpaper.  The  parts 
coming  on  the  inside  had  best  be  sandpapered  before  putting  to- 
gether, however,  but  be  sure  not  to  do  this  until  all  cutting  with 
the  tools  has  been  done.  Set  all  the  nails  carefully  (see  Nail- 
sef).  The  whole  can  be  painted  in  one  or  more  colours  (see 
Painting],  and  portieres,  window  drapery,  etc.,  can  be  added 


124  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

according   to  your  taste  and  the  materials  at  command.     The 
inside  can  be  papered,  if  preferred. 

A  more  thoroughly  workmanlike  way  is  to  groove  the  bottom 
into  the  sides,  the  upright  partitions  into  the  floor  boards,  and 
to  cut  rabbets  around  on  the  back  edge  of  the  sides,  roof,  and 
bottom,  into  which  to  set  the  backboards.  This  involves  a  good 


FIG.  174. 

deal  more  work  and  care  in  laying  out  the  work  (see  Grooving). 
If  you  have  the  pieces  got  out  at  a  mill  it  can  be  easily  done, 
however. 

It  may  be  a  convenience  to  screw  castors  on  the  bottom.  A 
door  (with  a  door-bell  or  knocker)  can  be  added  to  the  front  of 
the  hall,  if  thought  best. 

A  house  which  can  be  closed  is  shown  in  Fig.  174.  The  con- 
struction is  quite  similar  to  the  preceding.  A  strip  must  be 
fastened  above  and  below  the  large  doors,  as  shown,  that  they 
may  open  without  striking  either  the  roof  or  the  floor  on  which 
the  house  stands.  The  little  door,  representing  the  entrance  to 


A  Few  Toys  125 

the  house  when  closed  and  shown  in  the  closed  half,  can  be 
made  to  open  independently  and  can  have  a  bell  or  knocker. 

If  this  house  is  made  quite  deep  (from  front  to  back)  it  can 
easily  be  divided  lengthways  by  a  partition  and  made  into  a 
double  house,  the  back  side  being  made  to  open  in  the  same  way 
as  the  side  here  shown. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HOUSES   FOR   ANIMALS 

THE  sizes  and  shapes  of  these  houses  and  cages  will  de- 
pend upon  the  animals  for  which  they  are  built  and 
the  places  you  have  to  put  them.  Frequently  they  can  be 
built  to  advantage  against  the  side  of  a  building,  or  a  fence, 
or  in  a  corner,  and  boxes  can  be  utilised  in  various  ways. 

Make  the  houses,  cages,  and  runways  as  large  as  you  can 
afford,  for  there  is  much  more  danger  of  the  pets  being 
cramped  and  crowded  than  of  their  having  too  much  room. 

Wire  netting  or  wire  cloth  (held  in  place  by  staples) 
should  be  freely  used,  as  ventilation  is  very  important  for 
the  health  and  comfort  of  the  animals.  Special  openings 
should  always  be  made  for  cleaning  the  houses  or  cages  in 
case  all  parts  cannot  be  conveniently  reached  from  the  doors, 
for  cleanliness  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  all  such  struct- 
ures. The  floors  of  the  larger  houses  should  always  slant  or 
have  holes  provided  for  drainage.  Covering  the  floors  with 
sheets  of  zinc  will  promote  cleanliness.  In  the  smaller  cages 
removable  pans  or  trays  can  often  be  used  (Fig.  190). 
Houses  and  cages  with  wooden  floors  should  always  be 
raised  from  the  ground  on  posts,  blocks,  or  stones,  to  avoid 
dampness.  Clean  sand  scattered  over  the  floor  and  fre- 
quently renewed  will  contribute  much  to  the  cleanliness  of 
the  cages.  The  bedding  should  also  be  changed  frequently. 

In  the  case  of  those  animals  which  use  their  teeth  for 
gnawing,  the  corners  and  angles  can  be  protected  by  tacking 

186 


Houses  for  Animals  127 

on  strips  of  wire  cloth,  tin,  or  zinc,  but  there  is  no  need  to 
do  this  over  the  flat  surfaces.  In  the  case  of  cages  or  houses 
(and  the  runways)  which  have  the  ground  for  the  floor  and 
are  to  be  inhabited  by  animals  that  will  burrow  or  dig  their 
way  out,  the  wire  netting  should  be  continued  underground 
to  a  considerable  depth,  or  it  can  be  carried  down  a  little 
way  and  then  bent  to  lie  horizontally,  forming  a  sort  of  wire 
floor,  over  which  the  dirt  can  be  replaced,  and  the  animals 
will  be  unable  to  tunnel  their  way  out;  but  in  all  such  cases 
care  must  be  taken  to  proportion  the  mesh  of  the  netting 
and  the  size  of  the  wire  to  the  strength  and  escaping  powers 
of  the  animals. 

Houses  for  animals  often  look  pretty  when  made  in  imita- 
tion of  real  houses,  but  when  you  do  this  choose  simple 
types  of  good  proportions,  and  do  not  try  to  copy  all  the 
little  details  of  the  large  houses.  Avoid  "  gingerbread  " 
work,  and  do  not  cover  your  houses  with  meaningless  jig- 
sawed  scroll  work  and  rows  of  towers  and  pinnacles,  and  do 
not  use  all  the  colours  of  the  rainbow  in  painting  them. 

For  houses,  hutches,  boxes,  cages,  etc.,  which  are  to  be 
kept  out  of  doors  or  in  some  outbuilding,  ordinary  machine- 
planed  stock  of  fair  quality  is  sufficiently  good,  and  planing 
and  smoothing  by  hand  is  usually  a  waste  of  labour;  but  if 
you  wish  to  make  a  small  cage  or  box  to  be  kept  in  the 
house,  and  to  be  nicely  finished  or  painted,  good  clear  stock 
should  be  used,  and  the  final  smoothing  done  by  hand. 

In  case  you  wish  to  make  several  cages  or  boxes  of  the 
same  pattern,  as,  for  example,  like  Fig.  178,  it  is  much  less 
work  to  go  through  the  process  with  two  or  more  at  a  time 
than  to  make  each  separately. 

A  house  for  pets  should  not  be  built,  as  is  sometimes 
done,  on  a  platform  or  base  projecting  beyond  the  base  of 
the  house,  as  this  tends  to  collect  and  retain  moisture  and 


128          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


dampness,  but  should  be  clear  of  any  platform,  like  an 
ordinary  dwelling-house,  so  that  the  rain  will  be  shed 
directly  upon  the  ground. 

When  two  or  more  boards  are  required  for  each  side  of 
the  roof  it  is  usually  better  to  lay  them  up  and  down,  as  in 
Fig.  187,  rather  than  horizontally  or  lengthways,  because  a 
roof  laid  in  this  way  is  better  about  shedding  the  water, 
which  tends  to  collect  in  the  cracks  if  the  boards  are  laid 
horizontally.  For  the  rougher  structures  the  hinges  can  be 
screwed  flat  upon  the  outside  (as  shown  in  Fig.  179),  but 
for  nice  work  they  should  be  fitted  in  the  usual  way.  (See 
Hinges.') 

Before  beginning  work  upon  these  cages  and  houses,  read  care- 
fully Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

Cheap  and  serviceable  cages  and  houses  can  be  built  by  simply 
driving  posts  or  stakes  into  the  ground  and  fastening  wire  cloth 
or  netting  to  them,  much  as  you  would  build  a  fence.  This 
wire-fenced  enclosure  can  be  covered  with  a  wooden  roof  if  de- 
sired. A  runway  and  playground  can  easily  be  made  in  this  way. 


FIG.  175. 


FIG.  176. 


A  more  portable  arrangement  can  be  made  by  putting  together 
wooden  frames  covered  with  wire.     Very  simple  forms  are  shown 


Houses  for  Animals 


129 


in  Fig.  175.  By  putting  together  four  or  more  of  such  frames  a 
cage  can  readily  be  made  which  can  be  covered  with  a  wooden 
roof  or  with  wire  (Fig.  176).  If  these  frames  are  fastened  with 
screws  or  screw-eyes  and  hooks,  the  whole  can  quickly  be  taken 
apart  if  desired. 

A  very  simple  cage  can  be  easily  made,  on  the  principle  of  the 
common  chicken  coop,  with  a  few  boards 
or  slats  and  a  little  wire  netting  (Fig. 
177),  but  a  house  of  this  sort  is  not  espe- 
cially desirable  except  for  economy  of 
materials  and  labour.  The  construction 
is  too  simple  to  require  description. 

A  much  better  form  is  that  with  upright 
sides,  or  with  one  slanting  side.  Figs. 
178  and  179  show  an  excellent  arrangement,  easily  made.  It 
can  be  made  any  desired  size  or  proportions  and  is  suitable 
for  quite  a  variety  of  animals.  If  small,  |"  stock  will  be 
thick  enough,  but  if  large,  |"  stock  should  be  used.  The 
construction  is  similar  to  that  of  a  common  box  (see  Box-making, 
page  219).  One  corner  of  each  end  should  be  sawed  off  slant- 
ingly (Fig.  178),  and  a  rectangular  piece  cut  from  the  opposite 
corner,  as  shown,  before  the  box  is  nailed  together.  The  bevel- 


FIG.  177. 


FIG.  178. 


FIG.  179. 


ling  of  the  edges  of  the  top  and  front  boards  can  be  done  after 
the  box  is  put  together  (see  Bevelling].  For  making  the  door, 
see  Doors,  in  Part  V.  The  hinged  board  at  the  bottom  gives 
access  for  cleaning.  If  for  indoors,  and  to  be  finished  or  painted, 


13°          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


clear  stock  should  be  selected  and  the  outside  carefully  smoothed. 
(See  Plane,  Scraper,  Sandpaper,  Finishing,  and  Painting.} 

For  something  more  like  a  house,  the  design  shown  in  Fig.  180 


FIG.  1 80. 

is  good  and  of  simple  construction.  This  can  be  made  of  any 
size  from  that  of  a  small  box  to  a  small  house.  For  the  latter, 
see  Part  III.  {House-building  for  Beginners). 

To  make  a  little  house  of  this  pattern  first  get  out  the  bottom 
of  the  required  dimensions,  and  then  the  ends,  which  are  alike 
and  to  be  nailed  to  the  ends  of  the  bottom.  Take  pains  to  be 
accurate  in  getting  out  the  pieces,  or  the  house  will  be  askew 
when  put  together.  The  construction  of  the  sides  is  plain.  The 
door  can  be  made  as  in  Fig.  180  (see 
Doors),  or  the  sides  can  be  entirely  of  wire 
and  the  door  placed  at  the  end  (Fig.  181). 
The  roof  is  simply  nailed  down  in  place, 
one  side  being  got  out  as  much  wider  than 
the  other  as  the  thickness  of  the  stock,  so 
that  one  will  lap  over  the  edge  of  the  other 
at  the  ridge.  If  the  angle  formed  at  the 

top  is  not  a  right  angle,  however,  the  edge 
FIG.  i8i. 

of  the  narrower  roof-board  must  be  bev 

elled  according  to  the  angle  (see  Bevelling). 

A  house  of  this  sort  can  be  made  with  one  end  closed,  while 


Houses  for  Animals 


the  other  remains  open  (Fig.  182).  This  is  a  good  arrangement 
for  many  animals.  First  get  out  the  floor,  then  the  pieces  for 
the  closed  end,  cutting  out  the  doorway  and  a  window,  if  one  is 


FIG.  182. 

desired.  These  openings  can  be  cut  as  shown  on  page  122. 
Next  get  out  the  framework  for  the  open  end  and  fasten  it  in 
position.  A  door  can  be  fitted  wherever  desired  and  the  roof 
put  on,  as  just  shown. 

A  house  or  cage,  chiefly  open-work,  with  two  sleeping-boxes 
or  nests  (Fig.  183)  is  similar  in  general  construction.  This  is 
suitable  for  indoors  (as  in 
an  outbuilding).  If  to  be 
left  exposed  to  the  weather, 
a  solid  roof  can  be  added, 
or  it  can  be  covered  with 
canvas  or  something  of  the 
sort  when  necessary.  The 
construction  is  similar  to 
that  of  those  already  de- 
scribed. This  cage  can  be 
used  for  pigeons  and  other 


FIG.  183. 


pets,  and  can  be  made  of  any  size,  according  to  circumstances. 
For  the  door,  see  Doors  and  Hinges,  in  Part  V.  The  box  at- 
tachments can  best  be  made  at  the  same  time,  just  alike 


132  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


(see  Box-making,  page  219),  and  fastened  to  the  sides  of  the 
house,  the  doorways  having  been  cut  in  the  sides  before 
the  house  was  put  together.  If  these  boxes  or  nests  cannot 
be  readily  reached  for  cleaning,  they  should  be  hinged  to  the 
main  house,  or  have  special  openings  with  lids  or  doors,  so 
that  they  can  be  kept  clean.  The  ridge-pole  is  simply  a  strip  of 
board  placed  horizontally  between  the  upper  ends  of  the  rafters. 

Rabbit  Hutch. — A  simple  rabbit-house,  or  hutch,  can  be 

made  by  putting 
together  a  good- 
sized  box,  parti- 
tioning off  one 
end,  to  be  closed 
by  a  door,  and 
leaving  the  rest 
open,  except  for 


FIG.  184. 
he  necessary  wire  sides  (Fig.  184). 


This  is  made  just  like  a  box  (see  Box-making,  page  219),  the 
other  details  being  similar  to  those  already 
shown.  A  sliding-door  (Fig.  185)  can  be 
inserted,  if  desired,  to  cover  the  hole  between 
the  closed  and  open  parts.  The  hutch 
should  be  raised  from  the  ground  to  avoid 
dampness,  and  proper  arrangements  for 

cleanliness  made,  as  referred  to  above. 

FIG.  185. 

A  more  elaborate  hutch  (Fig.  186)  can  be  constructed  in  a  simi- 
lar manner  to  the  houses  already  shown.  Access  to  the  open 
part  can  be  had  by  means  of  the  doors  or  lids  on  top.  For  the 
doors,  see  Doors  and  Hinges.  The  slides  for  the  door  at  the  end 
can  be  made  by  cutting  a  rabbet  at  the  edge  of  a  square  stick, 
as  shown,  or  the  rabbet  can  be  formed  by  using  strips  of  different 
widths,  letting  the  wider  lap  over  the  narrower  so  as  to  form  the 


Houses  for  Animals 


rabbet.     Both  doors  can  be  made  to  swing  in  the  usual  way,  of 
course,  if  preferred.     Where  the  two  sides  of  the  roof  meet  at 


the  top,  the  edges  must  be  bevelled  (see  Bevelling}. 

Kennel. — There  are  many  kinds  of  dog-houses,  and  the 
style  and  size  must,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  dog  and  the 
situation. 

A  good  kennel  (Fig.  187)  for  a  small  dog  can  be  made  very 
much  as  you  would  make  a  box  (see  Box-making,  page  219).  If 
for  a  very  small  dog  the  ends,  sides,  floor,  and  sides  of  the  roof 
can  each  be  made  of  one 
piece,  but  ordinarily  these 
parts  will  each  be  made  of 
two  or  more  pieces. 
Matched  boards  are  suit- 
able. First  get  out  the  bot- 
tom, then  the  sides  and 
ends.  If  you  use  boards 
with  square  edges  you  must 
of  course  use  pieces  of  dif- 
ferent widths,  so  that  the 
cracks  between  them  will  not 

meet  at  the  corners,  or  put 

FIG    187 
posts  at  the  corners.     This 

is  the  best  way  to  do  with  matched  boards,  if  the  house  is  at  all 
large.    Nail  these  parts  together.    It  will  be  easiest  to  cut  the  slant 


134          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


at  the  top  of  each  end — the  gable — so  that  the  sides  of  the  roof 
will  meet  in  a  right  angle.  This  looks  well  and  saves  the  need  of 
bevelling  the  edges  of  the  roof-boards.  An  opening  for  the  door- 
way should  be  cut  in  one  of  the  ends  before  the  roof  is  nailed  on. 
If  you  do  not  use  matched  boards,  a  strip  should  be  nailed  on  the 
inside  at  each  side  of  the  doorway,  to  keep  the  boards  together. 
The  roof-boards  for  one  side  should  be  as  much  longer  than  those 
for  the  other  as  the  thickness  of  the  stock.  The  same  applies 
to  the  width  of  the  saddle-boards  which  cover  the  extreme  top. 
If  the  roof  is  not  made  of  matched  boards,  battens  should  be 
nailed  over  the  cracks  as  shown  in  Part  III. 

For  a  large  dog  a  kennel  should  be  built  more  like  a  real 

house  and  not  so 
much  like  a  box.  A 
structure  with  a  frame 
(Fig.  188)  can  be  built 
of  any  size  suitable  for 
a  kennel,  and  will  be 
more  durable  than  the 
preceding  form. 

For  the  frame,  small 
joists,  or  strips  of  plank 

of  any  size  from  i  ^"  x  2"  to  2"  x  3"  can  be  used.  First  get  out  the 
sills  or  bottom  pieces  of  the  framework,  nailing  them  together  at 
the  corners  to  form  a  rectangular  frame,  as  shown  in  Fig.  189. 
Then  get  out  the  corner  posts  and  fasten  them  in  place,  and  on 
top  of  them  fasten  the  plates  (a  second  horizontal  frame  like  that 
at  the  bottom),  and  see  that  all  this  framework  is  rectangular  and 
free  from  winding.  The  sills  and  plates  can  be  halved  at  the  corners 
(see  Halving},  but  this  is  not  really  necessary  in  so  small  a  house, 
as  the  boarding  adds  strength  to  the  joints.  The  frame  can  be 
temporarily  held  in  place  until  the  boarding  is  put  on  by  nailing 
on  as  many  diagonal  strips  (Fig.  189)  as  may  be  required.  Two 


Houses  for  Animals 


rafters  at  each  end  should  next  be  put  in  place,  their  ends  having 
been  cut  at  an  angle  of  45°  (see  Mitreing]  and  the  upper  ends 
being  nailed  to  a  strip  of  board  which  serves  for  a  ridge-pole.  An 
intermediate  rafter  on  each  side  will  add  stiffness  to  the  roof. 

The  floor  should  next  be 
laid,  as  it  will  be  incon- 
venient in  so  small  a  house 
to  do  this  after  the  sides 
are  put  on. 
The  sides  and 
endsshouldbe 
boarded  with 
sheathing  o  r 
matched 

FIG.  189.  boards  laid      FiS- 

vertically,  cutting  out  the  doorway  and  a  small  window  in 
the  back  gable  for  ventilation.  The  roof  can  next  be  laid  with 
the  boards  running  horizontally,  or  lengthwise,  as  this  house  is  to 
be  shingled.  The  shingles  can  be  dipped  in  creosote  stain  or 
paint  to  good  advantage  before  laying.  After  the  roof  has  been 
shingled  the  saddle-boards  can  be  put  on  and  the  house  will  be 
ready  for  painting  (see  Painting).  Another  form  of  doorway  is 
shown  in  Fig.  189^.  For  the  various  details  of  a  framed  structure 
of  this  sort,  see  Part  III.  {House-building  for  Beginners}. 

The  author  of  House  and  Pet  Dogs  gives  the  following  sug- 
gestion : 

"  The  best  device  is  an  ordinary  single  kennel  forty-eight 
inches  by  thirty-three  inches,  with  an  A  roof,  but  with  a  detached 
bottom  of  the  same  size  as  the  outside  ground  measurement  of  the 
kennel.  This  bottom  is  hinged  by  two  stout  strap-iron  hinges 
to  the  side  of  the  kennel,  and  is  provided  with  two  wooden  axles, 
to  which  are  fitted  four  wooden  wheels,  say  four  inches  in  diam- 
eter. When  closed  it  looks  like  any  other  kennel  on  wheels.  It 


136          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

can  be  easily  moved  by  one  person  from  damp  spots,  etc.;  and 
by  turning  the  kennel  back  upon  its  hinges  the  bedding  can  be 
daily  sunned  and  aired  and  the  kennel  washed  and  purified 
without  trouble.  The  wheels  also  serve  to  keep  the  bottom 
clear  of  the  ground,  and  allow  of  a  free  circulation  of  air 
beneath." 

Squirrel  House. — The    small    squirrel   house,    or   cage, 
shown  in  Fig.    190,   is  made  like  a  box  (see  Box-making, 


FIG.  190. 

page  219),  with  the  exception  of  the  roof.     The  construction 
is  similar  to  that  of  the  houses  already  described. 

It  can  be  made  of  -J"  or  f"  stock.  The  dimensions  of  the 
bottom  can  be  made  to  agree  with  those  of  any  baking-pan  you 
may  have,  as  shown.  The  slide  in  the  roof  can  be  made  of  zinc 


Houses  for  Animals 


or  tin.  That  in  the  side  can  be  of  either  zinc  or  wood, 
the  wire  cloth  has  been 
nailed  on  a  strip  of  wood  can 
be  nailed  around  the  front 
edge  as  a  moulding.  The 
little  sleeping-box  in  the  up- 
per corner  can  be  readily 
reached  from  the  slide  in  the 
roof  and  connects  with  the 
floor  of  the  house  by  a  little 


After 


FIG.  191. 


door   and  a  flight    of   steps 

(Fig.  191).     The  latter  can 

be  made  as  shown  in  Fig.  173.     The  most  difficult  part  of  this 

house  to  make  nicely  is  the  joining  of  the  roof-boards.     These 

must  be  bevelled  at  the  ridge  and  the  tops  of  the  ends  must  also 

be  bevelled  where  they  join  the 

roof  (see    Bevelling}.     For  other 

details,    see    the    houses  already 

described. 

A  more  elaborate  affair, 
shown  below,  can  be  made  quite 
large  and  will  give  room 
for  a  whole  family 
of   squirrels.      This 
house    is,  however, 
consider- 
ably more 
difficult  to 
make  than 
the  others 
shown     in 
this  chap- 
ter, and  if 
you  have 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


not  already  acquired  some  skill  as  a  workman  you  had  best 
be  content  with  a  simpler  design. 

Four  or  five  feet  by  about  three  feet  will  not  be  too  large  for 
the  ground  dimensions  of  the  main  part  of  the  house.     Regular 


sills  can  first 
be  nailed  to- 
gether for  the 
bottom  of  the 
main  house 
and  ell  in  the 
way  shown  in 
Fig.  189. 


These  sills  can 
be  from  i£"  x  2" 
to  2"  x  3".  Per- 
haps an  easier 
way  is  that  shown 
in  Fig.  192,  in 
which  three  cross 
cleats  or  sills  are 
laid  and  the  floor 
nailed  directly  to 
these.  When  the 
lengthways 
boards  shown  in 
Fig.  192  are 
nailed  to  the  floor 
boards  and  the 
sills  the  bottom 
will  be  sufficient- 
ly stiff  for  a 

squirrel  house.  The  sides  and  ends  of  the  ell  can  be  made  of 
boards  nailed  together  like  a  box,  the  openings  for  the  doors, 
windows,  etc.,  being  first  cut  out;  but  the  main  part  of  the  house 
should  have  posts  at  the  corners  to  which  the  boarding  at  the 
ends  is  to  be  nailed.  Rafters  should  also  be  put  in  at  each 
gable.  Plain  sheathing  will  look  better  for  the  outside  of  this 
house  than  that  with  beads.  After  the  outside  has  been  boarded 
and  the  upper  floors  put  in,  the  roofs  and  the  cupola  can  be 
added.  If  the  cupola  is  too  difficult  it  can  be  omitted,  as  it 
is  a  luxury  to  which  the  average  squirrel  is  unaccustomed. 
The  stairs,  the  openings  in  the  floors,  the  doorways,  the 


Houses  for  Animals 


sleeping-box,  the  revolving  wire  cage,  the  tree,  and  the  swing  in 
the  cupola,  are  shown  in  Fig.  192.  The  stairs  can  be  made  as  shown 
in  Fig.  192  ;  strips  nailed  vertically  at  the  outside  corners  of  the 
house,  as  in  a  real  house,  will  give  a  more  finished  appearance. 
The  window  casings  can  be  made  by  nailing  strips  on  the  outside. 
The  glass  can  be  held  in  place  by  strips,  or  small  rabbets  can  be 
cut  as  in  a  window  sash.  For  the  shingling  of  the  roof,  see  Part 
III.  {House-building  for  Beginners).  Each  door  can  be  made  of 
a  single  piece  of  board,  cleated  (see  Doors].  For  any  other  de- 
tails, see  the  houses  just  described  and  also  Part  III,  {House- 
building for  Beginners),  and  Painting. 

Several  cages  of  various  sizes  can  readily  be  built  together, 


FIG.  193. 

as  shown  in  Fig.  193,  which  is  merely  a  suggestion,  for,  of 
course,  the  shape,  size,  arrangement,  and  number  of  com- 
partments must  depend  on  the  number  and  kinds  of  animals 
and  the  situation.  Various  combinations  will  suggest  them- 
selves as  occasion  calls  for  them. 

If  you  have  such  creatures  as  frogs,  turtles,  lizards,  etc., 
a  water-tank  should  be  provided.  This  can  easily  be  made 
by  taking  a  tightly  made  flat  box  and  caulking  the  cracks,  or 
pouring  hot  tar  or  pitch  into  them  and  also  tarring  or  paint- 
ing the  whole  surface  of  the  outside.  A  board  can  be  fitted 


140          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

slantingly  from  the  bottom  to  the  edge,  at  one  or  both  ends, 
to  form  an  incline  by  which  the  users  of  this  miniature  pond 
can  crawl  in  and  out  of  the  water.  The  box  must,  of  course, 
be  sunk  in  the  ground  inside  of  the  cage. 

For  larger  houses,  as  for  hens,  etc.,  see,  also,  the  princi- 
ples of  construction  of  somewhat  larger  structures  in  Part 
III.  (House -building  for  Beginners], 

Travelling  Cage. — A  small  box  (Fig.  194)  in  which  to 
carry  a  kitten,  a  squirrel,  a  bird,  or  any  small  animal,  when 


FIG.  194. 

travelling,  is  often  very  useful  and  much  better  than  the 
bags  and  baskets  so  often  used  for  the  purpose. 

All  that  is  necessary  is  to  make  a  small  box  of  £"  stock  (see 
Box-making,  page  219),  with  one  side  open  (to  be  covered  with 
wire  cloth  or  netting),  and  the  opposite  side  made  in  two  parts, 
the  upper  of  which  is  hinged  to  serve  as  a  door  or  lid.  Strips  of 
moulding  can  be  nailed  on  with  brads  along  the  edges  where  the 
wire  is  fastened,  the  door  can  be  fastened  with  hook  and  screw- 
eye  or  catch,  and  a  handle  fastened  upon  the  top.  It  is  a 
good  plan  .o  round  the  edges  of  a  box  which  is  to  be  carried 
around.  If  this  box  is  neatly  got  out  and  put  together  and  care- 
fully smoothed  and  finished  it  will  look  well  and  serve  for  many 
years. 


CHAPTER  IX 

IMPLEMENTS   FOR   OUTDOOR    SPORTS   AND   ATHLETICS 


Stilts.- 
of  stilts. 


-There  is  very  little  to  say  about  the  manufacture 
The  construction  is  obvious  (Figs.  195  and  196), 


FIG.  195. 


FIG.  196. 


the  size  and  arrangement  depending  on  your  own  size  and 
skill.  The  handles  can  either  be  long,  or  reach  up  as  high 
as  the  hand,  or  short  and  strapped  to  the  legs. 

141 


142          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


Tilt  or  See-Saw. — One  of  small  size  is  shown  in  Fig. 
197.  The  exact  proportions  given  are  not  necessary,  pro- 
vided you  make  it  strong  and  so  that  it  will  not  tip  over. 


FIG.  197. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Nailing,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

First  make  the  standard  (Fig.  198)  of  any  sound  plank  ij"  to 
2"  thick  and  12"  or  more  in  width.  Get  out  the  pieces  to  the 
dimensions  before  beginning  to  put  together,  the  ends  of  the 
braces  H  being  cut  at  a  mitre  (see  Mitring).  Square  the  line 
EF  across  the  plank  B  at  the  middle  (Fig.  199).  Drive  three  or 
four  stout  wire  nails  (3"  to  4"  long,  according  to  the  thickness  of 
the  plank)  nearly  through  the  plank  on  this  line.  Stand  the 
piece  A  on  end  under  these  nails  and  drive  them  through  firmly 

into  it  (Fig.  200),  keeping 
the  two  boards  at  right 
angles.  Bore  holes  with  a 
\"  bit  (see  Boring)  in  each 
end  of  the  pieces  H,  as 
shown,  taking  pains  not  to 
FIG.  199.  FIG.  200.  get  them  too  near  the  edge. 

Screw  these  braces  in  place  with  screws  from  2^"  to  3^"  long 
(according  to  the  thickness  of  the  plank),  keeping  the  piece  A 
at  right  angles  with  the  plank  B  (see  Screws).  Screw  this  frame 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         143 


FIG.  201. 


on  the  cross-pieces  C  and  D,  as  shown.  Nails  can  be  used 
throughout,  but  screws  are  better.  With  plane,  drawknife,  or 
spokeshave  (see  Part  V.  for  these  tools),  round  the  top  edge  of  A. 
The  tilting-plank  should  be  of  spruce,  ash,  hard  pine,  or  any 
strong  wood,  and  had  best  be  from 
i^"  to  2"  thick,  according  to  the 
length,  which  can  be  12'  or  14'. 
It  should  of  course  be  planed. 
Next  get  out  a  few  cleats  %" 
square,  or  thicker,  and  screw  them 
on  the  under  side  of  the  tilting-plank  at  the  middle  (Fig.  201, 
which  shows  the  under  side  of  the  plank),  so  that  the  spaces  be- 
tween them  will  be  a  little  wider  than  the  thickness  of  the  up- 
right piece  A — just  enough  to  allow  the  plank  to  tilt  freely.  Nail 
strips  on  the  edge,  to  keep 
the  plank  from  slipping  off 
sideways,  shaving  a  little 
from  the  edges  of  A  at  the 
top  if  necessary.  Finally  run 
over  the  edges  with  a  plane 

(see  Plane),  and 
sandpaper  the  plank 
to  prevent  slivers. 

Simply  paint  or  oil 
and  varnish  (see 
Painting  or  Finish- 
ing). 

A  larger  and 
FIG.  202.  more  elaborate  af- 

fair, adjustable  to  different  heights,  is  shown  in  Fig.  202. 

First  get  out  the  main  pieces  to  the  dimensions  (Figs.  203,  204, 
205).  The  upright  pieces  should  be  mortised  into  the  planks 
on  which  they  rest  (Fig.  206)  (see  Mortising).  Gauge  a  line 


144          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


lengthways  along  the  centre  of  each  side  of  the  uprights  (see 
Gauge}  and  mark  points  (say  6"  apart)  on  these  lines  for  holes 
for  the  iron  rod  on  which  the  tilting-plank  rests,  taking  pains  to 


FIG.  203. 


FIG.  204. 


place  them  alike  on  the  two  uprights.  Then  bore  f "  or  £"  holes 
(see  Boring},  according  to  the  size  of  rod  you  can  get.  Next  fit 
the  cross  bar  at  the  top.  This  can  simply  be  nailed  down  or 


FIG.  205. 


FIG.  207. 


FIG.  208. 


fitted  between  the  uprights  (Fig.  207),  or  made  with  a  shoulder 
(Fig.  208),  which  will  add  to  the  stiffness  of  the  frame.  The 
rest  of  the  construction  of  the  standard  is  plain,  and  similar  to 
that  just  described. 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         145 

Iron  rods  can  be  used  for  braces,  if  you  wish  (Fig.  209). 

The  tilting-plank  should  be  16'  or  18'  long,  and  of  2"  plank. 
A  thread  with  nut  on  one  end 
of  the  iron  rod  on  which  the 
plank  rests  will  keep  the  rod 
from  slipping  out  of  place. 
The  plank  can  be  fastened 
to  the  rod  by  iron  straps  or 
even  staples,  or  a  box-like 

bearing  can  be  quickly  made  FJG  2QQ  FlG  2IQ 

(Fig.  210).  Washers  can  be 
placed  between  the  plank  and  the  uprights  if  necessary. 
Smooth  the  edges  with  a  plane  (see  Plane)  and  sandpaper  the 
plank.  Simply  paint  or  oil  and  varnish  (see  Painting  and 
Finishing] . 

Skis. — To  make  as  perfect  skis  as  possible  they  should  be 
of  rift  stock,  that  is,  split  out  instead  of  sawed;  but  this 
may  seldom  be  practicable  for  you  and  is  not  really  neces- 
sary. Good  straight-grained  sawed  stock  will  answer,  but 
be  sure  that  you  get  clear,  strong  stock  —  air-dried  if 
possible.  Always  avoid  kiln-dried  stock  for  anything  which 
is  to  be  put  to  sudden  and  violent  strain,  if  you  can  get  that 
which  has  been  naturally  seasoned  (see  Chapter  III.). 

Ash  is  very  good  (white  ash  the  best) ;  spruce,  light  and 
strong;  oak,  strong  but  heavy.  Any  strong  and  elastic 
wood  will  do,  if  not  too  heavy.  If  you  can  get  stock  which 
is  naturally  sprung  in  a  good  curve  upward  and  is  satisfac- 
tory in  other  respects,  take  it,  for  a  convex  curve  upward 
underneath  the  foot  gives  spring  and  elasticity  and  helps 
prevent  the  skis  from  becoming  hollowed  too  much  by  the 
weight  of  the  body.  This  curve  is  not  necessary,  but  the 
better  ones  are  purposely  so  made.  Skis  are  sometimes 
used  in  very  rude  forms — as  two  strips  of  wood  with  the 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


front  ends  shaved  down  and  bent  up  at  an  angle.  Small 
ones  can  even  be  made  of  staves  from  barrels,  but  these  are 
very  unsatisfactory. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Drawknife,  Plane,  Spokeshave,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other 
references. 

First  get  out  the  pieces  of  the  required  size.  The  length  for  a 
man  is  usually  about  8'  and  the  width  about  4",  though  they  are 


FIG.  211. 


FIG.  212. 

used  even  as  long  as  12'  or  13'.  From  5'  to  8'  long  and  from  3^" 
to  4"  wide  will  probably  be  right  for  you,  but  the  dimensions  de- 
pend on  your  size,  of  course.  Next  taper  the  forward  ends,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  211.  You  can  mark  both  edges  alike  by  drawing 
the  curve  free-hand  or  with  a  spline  (see  Spline)  on  a  piece  of 
stiff  paper,  from  which  you  can  cut  out  a  pattern  for  drawing  the 
curve  on  the  wood.  Next  make  the  pieces  thinner  towards  the 
ends  (Fig.  212),  noticing  that  the  forward  end  is  thinner  than 

the  after  end  and  is  shaved  down 
more  quickly  so  that  the  stock  may 
be  thin  where  the  toe  bends  up.  This 
requires  great  care  unless  the  grain 
is  very  straight,  for  a  little  hasty 
slashing  will  make  too  deep  a  cut  (see 


V////V//A 


FIG.  213. 


FIG.  214. 


Paring,  etc.).  Good  forms  are  shown  in  Figs.  213  and  214,  the 
former  showing  sections  at  the  middle  and  the  latter  nearer  the 
ends,  but  as  the  toe  is  approached  the  top  should  become  flat  for 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         147 

ease  in  bending.     This  shaping  can  best  be  done  by  the  draw- 
knife,  spokeshave,  or  plane. 

Bend  the  points  of  the  toes  upwards  about  6"  above  the  hori- 
zontal line  to  ensure  their  riding  clear  of  obstructions,  but  there 


FIG.  215. 


FIG.  216. 


FIG.  217. 


is  no  gain  in  curling  them  up  a  foot.  For  the  process  of  bend- 
ing, see  Bending  Wood.  Then  turning  the  skis  over,  gauge  (see 
Gauge)  parallel  lines  for  the  grooves  on  the  bottom.  Work  the 
grooves  out  with  the  gouge  or  with  the  saw  and  chisel  (see 
Gouge  and  Grooving}  unless  you  chance  to  have  the  plane  designed 
for  this  purpose.1  Make  these  grooves  shallower  as  they  ap- 
proach the  toe,  leaving  no  groove 
where  the  toe  bends  up. 

Balance  the  skis  lengthways  on 
a  stick  or  your  finger  and  put  stout 
leather  straps  just  forward  of  the 

balancing  point.  These  can  be  riveted  or  even  screwed  to  the 
edges  of  the  skis  (Fig.  215),  but  a  better  way  is  to  put  them 
through  slots  cut  in  the  wood  (Fig.  216).  Gauge  accurately  for 
the  slots,  marking  on  both  edges,  and  bore  in  from  both  sides 
(see  Boring}.  The  slots  must  then  be  cleaned  out  with  chisel 
and  file  (see  Mortising}.  An  easier  way  and  fully  as  strong  is 


Fio.  219.  FIG.  220.  FIG.  221. 

to  cut  grooves  (Fig.  217)  with  saw  and  chisel  and  cover  them 
with  thin  strips  securely  screwed  on  (Fig.  218).      Some  use  a 

1  All  of  this  work  can  be  done  cheaply  at  any  mill,  leaving  the  rounding  or 
bevelling  of  the  edges  and  the  bending  of  the  ends  for  you  to  do  yourself,  and 
for  that  matter  the  rounding  or  bevelling  can  be  done  by  machine. 


148          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

second  lighter  strap  to  go  above  the  heel.  This  can  be  screwed 
to  the  edges  if  you  use  it.  Strips  screwed  across  under  the  in- 
step (Figs.  219  and. 220),  or  behind  the  heel  (Fig.  221),  to  pre- 
vent the  foot  sliding  back  are  sometimes  used.1  For  racing  the 
Norwegian  skis  are  turned  up  at  the  rear  end  also. 

The  pole,  like  the  skis,  must  be  of  light,  strong  stuff,  and  can 
be  round  or  eight-sided  (see  Rounding  Sticks).  To  shape  the 
tapering  end  make  the  stick  uniformly  eight-sided  for  the  whole 
length  first  and  then  plane  each  side  down  at  the  end  to  get  the 
taper.  The  hole  in  the  disk  must  not  be  quite  so  large  as  the 


FIG.  222. 

diameter  of  the  pole,  so  that  it  cannot  slip  up  farther  than  the 
tapering  part  (Fig.  222).     Many  dispense  with  the  disk. 

Finally  smooth  skis  and  pole  with  scraper  (see  Scraper)  or 
glass,  and  sandpaper  (see  Sandpaper),  and  finish  with  plenty  of 
raw  linseed  oil  or  with  oil,  shellac,  and  varnish,  in  successive 
coats  (see  Finishing).  If  open-grained  wood  is  used  it  can  be 
filled  to  good  advantage  with  a  coat  of  good  wood- filler  well 
rubbed  in  (see  Finishing),  and  the  bottoms  can  also  be  rubbed 
with  wax  or  tallow,  if  you  wish. 

Toboggan. — This  is  now  commonly  made  of  narrow 
strips,  in  principle  much  like  several  skis  placed  side  by 

1  Mrs.  Alec  Tweedie  says  of  the  way  skis  are  worn  in  Norway : 
"  The  toes  are  fastened  by  a  leather  strap.  Another  strap  goes  round  the 
heel  in  a  sort  of  loop  fashion,  securing  the  foot,  but  at  the  same  time  giving 
the  heel  full  play.  A  special  ski  boot  is  worn  over  enormously  thick  horsehair 
stockings.  This  boot  has  no  hard  sole  at  all,  and,  instead  of  being  sewn  at 
the  sides,  the  large  piece  of  thick  leather  which  goes  under  the  foot  is  brought 
well  over  the  top  and  secured  to  what  might  ordinarily  be  called  a  leather 
tongue.  At  the  back  of  the  boot  is  a  small  strap,  which  is  used  to  fasten  the 
ski  securely  to  the  boot.  Once  fixed  on  the  ski,  the  boot  is  so  secure  no  fall 
can  loosen  it,  and  the  only  way  to  extricate  the  foot  is  to  undo  the  three  straps." 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         149 

side — an  easier  form  to  make  than  the  older  pattern,  formed 
of  one  or  two  wide  pieces,  as  originally  made  by  the  Indians. 

White  oak  and  hickory  are  probably  the  best  woods.  Ash, 
maple,  birch,  basswood,  or  any  hard  wood  which  can  be 
bent  and  has  elasticity  can  be  used.  As  in  the  case  of  the 
ski,  to  make  the  best  possible  the  pieces  should  be  rift,  or 
split  out,  rather  than  sawed,  to  ensure  straight  grain ;  but, 
as  this  may  be  out  of  the  question  for  you,  be  sure  to  select 
the  straightest-grained  clear  stock  you  can  find,  for,  besides 
the  bending  of  the  ends,  there  is  great  strain  put  upon  it  in 
coasting.  For  the  same  reason  use  air-dried  stock  and  avoid 
kiln-dried  if  possible. 

Probably  the  best  and  most  scientific  way  to  fasten  the 
parts  of  a  toboggan  together  is  the  old  way  adopted  by  the 
Indians  of  binding  or  lashing  with  thongs.  This  gives  great 
elasticity  and  allows  the  toboggan  to  adjust  itself  to  the  in- 
equalities of  the  surface  to  a  greater  degree  than  is  possible 
with  the  tightly  fastened  joints  now  in  use.  You  can  try 
this  way  instead  of  that  given  below,  if  you  prefer,  but  be 
sure  to  cut  little  grooves  in  the  bottom  for  the  thongs  or 
cords  to  fit  in,  or  they  will  be  quickly  worn  through. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  size  can  vary  from  3'  long  by  i'  wide  to  10'  or  12'  long  by 
20"  to  22"  wide;  4'  long  by  15"  or  16"  wide  is  good  for  a  single 
toboggan;  8'  long 
by  1 8"  is  a  good 
size  for  three  or 
more  persons.  You 
will  probably  find  FlG-  223- 

the  stock  most  readily  in  the  form  of  12'  boards.  One-half  inch  in 
the  rough  will  be  thick  enough,  though  you  may  have  to  take  inch 
(rough)  or  ^"  (planed)  boards.  Let  us  make  an  8'  toboggan  (Fig. 


150          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

223).  Have  the  stock  planed  and  sawed  in  strips  about 
10'  long,  2^"  wide,  and  not  less  than  J"  nor  more  than  |"  in 
thickness.  If  they  are  tapered  a  little  in  thickness  for  12" 
or  15"  at  the  forward  end  they  can  be  bent  more  easily, 
but  do  not  shave  them  down  too  much  (see  Plane  and  Draw- 
shave).  Smooth  the  bottom  surfaces 
of  the  strips  with  plane  and  scraper 
(see  Scraper]  It  is  hardly  necessary 

to  plane  the  upper  surfaces  by  hand, 
FIG.  224.  r.        .          v...   ,  ,         r  •  i 

as  the  planer  will   leave  them  fairly 

smooth,  though  they  will  look  a  little  nicer  smoothed  by  hand. 
Plane  the  edges.  Next  get  out  eight  cross-bars  or  cleats  18" 
long  x  -f"  thick  and  from  i^"  to  3"  wide.  If  wide  they  can 
be  tapered  at  the  edges,  and  if  narrow,  the  edges  should  be 
rounded  (Fig.  224).  Get  out  also  two  or  three  cleats  18"  long, 
£"  thick,  and  i^-"  wide,  and  one  piece  18"  long  and  about  f"  x£" 
(half  of  a  hardwood  broomstick  will  do). 

The  long  strips  must  now  be  bent  at  the  forward  end  (see 
Bending  Wood}.  After  they  are  bent  take  the  eight  cleats  and,  lay- 
ing one  across  the  strips  as  it  is  to  go,  mark  points  for  three  holes  at 
each  strip  (Fig.  224).  Bore  TV'  or  £"  holes  in  the  cross  strips  and 
countersink  them  very  carefully  (see  Boring  and  Countersink),  so 
that  the  heads  of  the  screws  will  be  very  slightly  lower  than  the 
surface — sunk  barely  enough  to  prevent  any  corners  or  edges 
from  sticking  above  the  surface.  Take  great  care  not  to  counter- 
sink too  deeply,  for  the  long  strips  are  so  thin  that  the  screws 
may  come  through  on  the  under  side.  Mark  and  bore  the  other 
seven  cleats  by  this  first  one. 

Now  take  one  cleat,  to  be  put  on  at  the  rear  end  8'  from  the 
beginning  of  the  curve.  Screw  one  end  of  this  cleat  in  place 
(see  Screws),  test  with  the  square,  and  screw  the  other  end. 
Then  put  in  the  intermediate  screws,  driving  them  all  firmly 
home,  and  saw  off  the  ends  of  the  long  strips  just  beyond  this 
cleat.  Square  lines  across  every  foot  to  the  curve  at  the  front, 
and  screw  on  the  other  cleats.  The  length  of  the  screws  (which 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         151 


can  be  quite  stout)  should  be  such  that  they  will  almost,  but  not 
quite,  go  through  to  the  under  side  of  the  toboggan.  Be  careful 
about  this  or  the  points  will  have  to  be  filed  off.  Then  screw  the 
smaller  cleats  on  the  inside  of  the  curve.  Screw  the  remaining 
(stouter)  cleat  on  the  outside  of  the  curve  at  the  place  where  the 
curve  is  to  end,  and  then  saw  off  the  projecting  ends  of  the  strips 
by  this  cleat.  By  thongs,  belt-lacing,  or 
strong  cord  at  the  ends  of  the  cleat  last  put 
on  fasten  the  curve  (which  will  naturally 
tend  to  straighten  somewhat)  in  the  required 
position  to  the  cleat  beneath  (Fig.  225). 

Side  hand-rails  can  be  fastened  at  each  side 
on  top  of  the  cross-cleats  (Fig.  223).  A  com- 
mon way  is  to  make  every  other  cross-cleat 
thicker  (say  £")  and  fasten  the  side  bars  to 
these  with  large  and  stout  screw-eyes,  or 
notches  can  be  cut  on  the  under  side  of  these 
thicker  cleats  before  they  are  screwed  on, 
and  by  passing  thongs  or  cord  through  these 
notches  the  side-bars  can  be  lashed  in  place.  The  side  bars  you 
can  plane  round  or  eight-sided  (see  Rounding  Sticks]  out  of  strips 
of  any  strong  wood. 

Sandpaper  the  bottom  and  finish  with  plenty  of  raw  linseed  oil, 
or  with  oil,  shellac,  and  varnish,  in  successive  coats  (see  Finish- 
ing). If  open-grained  wood  is  used  it  can  be  filled  to  good 
advantage  with  a  coat  of  good  wood-filler  well  rubbed  in  (see 
Finishing),  and  the  bottom  can  be  waxed  or  rubbed  with  tallow, 
if  you  wish. 

If  you  are  willing  to  put  in  the  labour  you  can  bevel  or  slope 
off  one  side  of  each  of  the  long  strips  (except  the 
two  outer  ones)  so  as  to  leave  the  strip  thickest  in 
the  middle  (Fig.  226).  Unless  you  are  willing  to 
take  pains  enough  to  do  it  nicely  (which  will  take 
some  time),  it  will  be  best  not  to  attempt  it  at  all,  or 
FIG.  226.  to  have  it  done  at  a  mill.  If  you  have  a  good  hill 


FIG.  225. 


i52          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


you  can  go  well  enough  with  the  flat  strips  and  it  is  not  important 
to  round  them  unless  you  are  scoring  fractions  of  a  second  against 
time.  Another  way  is  to  curve  the  cross-cleats  slightly  (Fig. 
226),  leaving  the  long  strips  flat. 

Some  toboggans  are  made  with  low  runners  about  an  inch  high. 
You  can,  as  you  may  know,  patch  up  a  sort  of  toboggan  of 

barrel-staves,  with  which,  though  not 
a  very  workmanlike  arrangement, 
you  can  have  a  lot  of  fun  at  no  ex- 
pense. You  can  get  a  high  speed 
FIG.  227.  with  this  simple  contrivance  (Fig. 

227)  on  a  steep  hill.  It  is  not  good,  however,  unless  the  pitch  is 
steep.  You  can  even  get  a  good  deal  of  sport  from  this  appa- 
ratus in  the  summer  on  a  very  steep  grassy  knoll. 

Wooden  Guns  and  Pistols. — A  gun  on  the  principle  of 


FIG.  228. 

that  shown  in  Fig.  228,  the  projectile  power  being  furnished 
by  elastic  (rubber)  cord,  is  easily  made. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Spokeshave,  Knife,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  refer- 
ences. 

First  saw  the  outline  of  the  gun  from  a  straight-grained 
pine  or  whitewood  board.  This  can  be  quickly  and  cheaply 
done  at  any  wood-working  mill.  The  gun  can  then  be  finally 
shaped  with  the  spokeshave  and  knife.  The  rasp  and  file  can  be 
used  (see  Rasp  and  File).  Much  of  the  shaping  can  be  done 
with  the  drawknife  (see  Drawknife],  and,  in  fact,  the  whole  can 
be  whittled  out  with  a  knife  if  other  tools  are  wanting. 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         153 


The  most  difficult  parts  of  the  work  are  the  groove  for  the 
arrow  and  the  arrangement  of  the  trigger.  Much  care  is  needed 
to  cut  an  accurate  groove  with  a  gouge  (see  Gouge),  and,  unless 
you  are  skilled,  you  can  get  a  truer  result  by  having  this  done 
by  a  carpenter  or  at  a  mill.  A  mortise  (see  Mortising)  must 

be  cut  for  the  trigger  long 
enough  to  allow  it  suffi- 
cient play  (Fig.  229).  The 
arrangement  of  the  trigger 
is  shown  in  Fig.  229.  The 


FIG.  229. 


FIG.  230. 


elastic  underneath  the 
barrel  (at  the  lower  end  of 
the  trigger)  must  be  sufficiently  powerful  (combined  with  its  ad- 
ditional leverage)  to  balance  the  elastic  which  propels  the  arrow, 
so  that  the  trigger  will  remain  in  position  and  hold  the  upper 
elastic  drawn,  until  the  pressure  of  the  finger  on  the  trigger 
releases  it. 

The  barrel  of  the  gun  is  sometimes  built  of  three  pieces  (Fig. 
230,  showing  section)  of  thinner  stock,  which  obviates  the  groov- 
ing but  makes  more  work  otherwise.  The  groove  can  be  left 
open  on  top  (Fig.  230)  or  covered  with  a  thin  strip  (Figs.  231  and 
232).  In  the  latter  case  a  depression  must  be  made  in  the  barrel, 
so  that  when  the  strip  is  put  on  there  will  be  a  long  slot  in  which 
the  string  can  play  back  and  forth  (Fig.  232).  With  this  arrange- 


FIG.  231. 


FIG.  232. 


ment  you  can  make  a  notch  (Fig.    233)  lo  hold  the  cord  when 
drawn.     The  trigger  can  be  of  wood  or  wire,  pivoted  on  a  screw 
or  nail,  so  that  when  pulled  the  string  will  be  pushed  up  and  re- 
leased (Fig.  233). 

A  tube  is  sometimes  fastened  to  the  barrel,  as  in  a  real  gun, 


154          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


and  a  plunger  is  sometimes  fitted  to  the  tube  to  start  the  arrows, 
or  bullets  in  case  they  are  used  (Fig.  234). 

The  ends  of  the  elastic  cord  can  be  fastened  to  screw-eyes  at 
the  muzzle.     A  piece  of  leather  thong 
or  cord  inserted  at  the  middle  of  the 
upper  elastic  cord   will    wear   better 


FIG.  235. 


FIG.  236. 


FIG.  234. 

than  the  rubber  at  that  point. 

Another  form  of  trigger  is  shown  in  Fig.  235,  which  can  also 
be  made  of  stiff  wire  (Fig.  236). 

To  finish  the  gun  nicely,  it  should  be  scraped  (see  Scraper] 
and  sandpapered  with  fine  sandpaper  (see  Sandpaper}.  It  can 


FIG.  237. 

then  be  finished  with  oil  and  shellac  or  varnish  (see  Shellac, 
Varnish,  Finishing). 

These  same  methods  of  construction  can,  of  course,  be  applied 
to  a  pistol. 

A  bow-gun  or  crossbow  (Fig.  237)  can  be  made  on  the  same 
principle,  using  a  bow  instead  of  the  elastic, 
and  inserting  it  in  a  hole  made  through  an 
enlargement  of  the  under  side  of  the  barrel 
FIG.  238=  (Fig.  238). 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         155 

Sleds. — Common  sleds  can  be  bought  so  cheaply  that  it 
is  hardly  worth  while,  as  a  rule,  to  make  them.  Many  are 
so  poorly  made,  however,  and  will  stand  so  little  rough 
usage,  that  a  few  suggestions  may  be  of  value  if  you  should 
wish  to  make  a  really  serviceable  one  yourself. 

Take  the  dimensions  from  any  sled  which  suits  you. 
Avoid  making  your  sled  too  high,  however,  as  one  ten  or 
twelve  inches  high  will  coast  no  better  than  a  low  sled,  and 
requires  much  more  bracing  to  be  strong. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  runners  and  cross-pieces  should  be  of  straight-grained  oak, 


FIG.  239. 

maple,  ash,  or  other  strong  wood;  $"  stock  will  do.  Mark  the 
runners  carefully  on  the  wood,  according  to  your  working-draw- 
ing (Fig.  239),  and  before  sawing  them  out  bore  the  holes  for  the 
rope  (see  Boring).  Saw  out  the  runners,  or  have  them  sawed 
by  machine,  and  see  that  the  curves  are  the  same  on  each. 

Get  out  three  cross-pieces  (Fig.  240)  about  2" 
wide,  and  from  -|"  to  i|"  thick,  with  a  shoulder 
at  each  end  as  shown.  Mark  and  cut  the  pIG>  240 

mortises  (see  Mortising)  in  the  runners  (Fig.  239). 

Put  these  parts  together,  forming  the  frame  of  the  sled  (Fig. 


156          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

241),  driving  a  pin  through  each  mortise  and  tenon  and  adding 
the  L  irons  shown  in  Figs.  241  and  242. 

The  seat  may  be  thinner  than  the  runners,  and  is  to  be  fitted 
between  them  and  to  be  screwed  to  the  cross-pieces  (see  Screws}. 
The  thickness  of  the  stock  for  the  seat  must  be  borne  in  mind 
when  laying  out  the  mortises  in  the  runners. 

Machine-planed  stock  is,  of  course,  as  smooth  as  is  necessary 
for  a  sled,  but  smoothing  by  hand  (see  Plane,  Scraper,  and 


FIG.  241. 


FIG.  242. 


Sandpaper)  will  give  a  nicer  surface.  The  runners  can  be  shod 
at  the  blacksmith's  with  half-round  irons,  or  round  steel  can  be 
used  with  iron  at  the  ends.  In  case  of  steel  spring  irons  the  run- 
ners can  be  slightly  grooved  on  the  edge,  so  far  as  may  be  ne- 
cessary to  keep  the  irons  in  place.  The  irons  can  be  ^"  to  •£"  in 
diameter. 

Finish  with  paint  (see  Painting}  or  with  oil,  shellac,  and  var- 
nish (see  Finishing). 

A  "  double-runner,"  "  bob,"  or  "  traverse  "  sled  can  be 
built  to  good  advantage.  The  sleds  can  be  made  as  just 
described,  or  ready-made  ones  can  be  used.  See  that  they 
are  well  put  together,  of  the  same  width,  and  securely 
braced,  as  the  strain  upon  them  is  great.  The  length  of 
the  double-runner  is  a  matter  of  choice,  of  course.  As  to 
the  height  and  width,  however,  if  the  coasting  is  straight, 
smooth,  and  comparatively  safe  there  is  no  objection  to  a 
high  seat,  with  a  comfortable  foot-board  on  each  side  for  the 


passengers'  feet,  If  you  wish.  But  if  you  are  going  to  coast 
on  long,  rough  hills,  with  sudden  curves  and  pitches  to  be 
taken  in  uncertainty  and  at  whirlwind  speed — the  kind  of 
coasting  for  real  fun  and  exhilaration — avoid  the  luxurious 
top-heavy  double-runners  frequently  seen.  Make  the  sleds 
rather  broad  (18"  is  not  too  wide  for  the  "  track  "  of  a  16' 
sled;  which  is  a  very  long  sled,  however),  and  keep  the 
height  of  the  top-board  down  to  about  10"  or  less. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  seat-board  can  be  from  8'  to  16'  long,  and  about  12"  to 


FIG.  243. 


14"  wide.  Board  thickness  is  sufficient  for  a  short  seat,  but  if 
long  a  i£"  plank  should  be  used.  If  you  have  in  mind  to  make 
a  very  long  sled  you  should  consider,  before  beginning,  that  you 
must  either  use  a  quite  thick  plank  to  get  the  necessary  stiffness, 
which  will  add  to  the  weight  of  the  double-runner,  or  the  plank 
must  be  stiffened  or  "  trussed  "  with  rods  beneath  like  a  bridge, 
which  will  add  to  the  expense  and  labour.  It  should  be  of 
strong,  elastic,  straight-grained  wood,  free  from  bad  knots  or 
defects,  as  the  strain  upon  it  is  great.  It  should  not  be  too 
yielding  and  springy,  however,  or  it  may  sag  inconveniently. 
Clear  hard  Southern  pine  or  ash  is  good.  A  plank  of  stiff  spruce 
of  good  quality  will  do.  The  rear  end  can  be  rounded,  as  shown 
(Fig.  243). 


158          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


Machine-planing  is  sufficient  for  the  sides  of  the  seat-plank, 

but  the  edges  should  be  planed  carefully  (see  Plane),  and  the 

angles  slightly  rounded  off  with  the  plane,  spokeshave,  or  rasp 

and  file  (see  Spokeshave,  Rasp,  and  File)  to  prevent  splinters. 

To  enable  the  front  sled  to  turn  properly,  get  out  two  pieces 

of  2"  plank,  as  shown  in  Fig.  244, 
about  3"  wide  and  as  long  as  the 
width  of  the  sled,  one  being  tapered 
toward  the  ends  on  the  under  side. 
The  tapering  is  important,  as  it  di- 
minishes the  friction  when  the  front 
sled  is  turned.  Screw  one  of  these 
pieces  firmly  across  the  top  of  the 
front  sled  and  the  other  across  the  lower  side  of  the  seat-board 
(see  Screws),  a  hole  being  bored  through  the  centre  of  each 
cross-piece  (as  well  as  through  the  seat-board  and  the  top  of  the 
front  sled)  for  the  king-bolt  upon  which  the  front  sled  turns. 
Find  these  centres  accurately  and  bore  carefully  with  a  bit  -fa" 
larger  than  the  king-bolt  (see  Boring).  The  front  sled  should 

turn  very  freely 
and  easily,  and 
have  plenty  of 
play, 


FIG.  244. 


FIG.  245. 


but    the 

bolt  should  not  fit  loosely  enough  to  make 
the  double-runner  rickety. 

A  washer  can  be  inserted  between  the 
cross-pieces.  Sometimes  a  thick  rubber 
washer  is  used  to  lessen  the  shock  (Fig. 

245)- 

To  give  the  ends  of  the  rear  sled  free- 
dom to  play  up  and  down  (without  turning 
sideways)  in  passing  over  the  in- 
equities of  the  surface  the  arrangement 
shown  in  Fig.  243  (and  enlarged  in  Fig. 
246)  is  good.  Do  not  make  this  of  \" 


stock. 


FIG.  246. 
Pieces  of  plank 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         159 


should  be  used,  the  dimensions  being  so  arranged  that  the  seat- 
board  will  be  equally  raised  from  the  front  and  rear  sleds.  The 
pins  at  the  ends  of  the  cross-piece  should  be  not  less  than  i"  in 
diameter  (i£"  is  better)  and  should  be  carefully  cut  (see  Paring 
and  Rounding  Sticks}.  The  best  way  is  to  have  them  turned  to 
fit  the  holes  in  the  rocker-shaped  pieces.  The  latter  should  be 
long  enough  (about  i ')  to  prevent  danger  of  the  wood  breaking  apart 
near  the  hole  and  to  allow  for  screwing  firmly  to  the  seat-board. 
Another  way,  sometimes  adopted,  is  to  use  two  cross-cleats 

with    two    bolts    (queen-bolts)    mum."..  

and  thick  rubber  washers  (Fig. 
247),  the  bolts  being  loose 
enough  in  the  holes  to  allow 
the  necessary  amount  of  play. 
Ropes  or  chain  can  be  fastened 
from  the  rear  sled  to  the  seat- 
board,  to  prevent  too  much 


T     1 


dropping  of  the  former. 


FIG.  247. 


Many  arrangements  for  steering  have  been  invented.  A  cleat 
at  the  forward  end  of  the  seat-board  to  brace  the  feet  against, 
the  sled  being  guided  by  the  ropes  held  in  the  hand  (Fig.  248), 
is  a  simple  way,  though  requiring  more  strength  and  steadiness 
of  arm,  when  the  coast  is  rough  or  dangerous,  than  is  possessed 
by  many  steersmen.  The  brace  for  the  feet  should  be  bolted  to 
the  seat-board  or  strongly  screwed  from 
above  and  beneath.  Another  equally 
simple  way  is  to  screw  the  brace  for  the 
feet  upon  the  forward  sled  (Fig.  243), 
cutting  a  shallow  gain  in  the  tops  of  the 
FIG.  248.  runners  to  hold  it  more  securely.  In  this 

way  of  steering  the  arms  can  reinforce  the  legs,  or  the  steering  can 
be  done  by  the  legs  alone.  It  is  a  very  effective  method,  which  gives 
a  high  degree  of  control  of  the  forward  sled  without  cumbersome 
tackle  and  leaves  the  seat-board  free  of  obstructions.1 

1  Various  contrivances  for  steering  with  a  wheel  or  cross-bar  are  sometimes 


160          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  253. 


In   case  of  a  high  double-runner,  running  foot-boards  along 
each  side  can  be  added.     A  simple  way  to  fasten  these  is  by  means 
/.        .          .        .g        of  pieces  of  strap-iron  bent  as  shown  in 
r — Iff  [y~7?  Fig.  252  and  screwed  to  the  under  side 

FK;.  252.  of  the  seat-board,  with  the  foot-boards 

fastened  to  the  projecting  arms  (Fig.  253). 
The  dimensions  to  which  the  irons  should  be 
bent  depend  upon  the  height  and  size  of  the 
double-runner,  but  you  should  take  pains  that 
the  space  between  the  edge  of  the  seat-board 
and  the  foot-board  is  such  that  the  feet  can- 
not become  caught. 

The  problem  of  contriving  a  perfectly  successful  brake  for  a 
double-runner  has  not  yet  been  solved.  Like  all  other  apparatus 
for  emergencies  it  should  be  as  simple  as  possible.  Unless  it  is 
sure  to  work  it  will  be  worse  than  not  to  have  one,  as  you  will 
come  to  rely  on  it.  The  steersman  is  usually  the  one  who  first 
realises  the  need  of  braking,  and  when  practicable  he  is  the  one 
upon  whom  it  naturally  devolves.  If  he  steers  with  the  hands  he 
can  brake  with  the  foot  against  a  lever  as  shown  below,  but  if  he 
steers  with  the  feet  it  is  pretty  risky  business  trying  to  brake  also 
with  the  foot  and,  unless  you  can  contrive  some  way  by  which 

used.     These  work  well  if  properly  attached,  and  for  reasonably  safe  coasting 
can  be  recommended,  but  where  a   "spill"    is 
likely  to  occur,  it  may  be  well  to  consider  the 
chance  of  being  injured  by  these  obstructions 
in  front  of  the  steersman. 

Fig.  249  shows  the  king-post  squared  at  the 
lower  end  (and  tapering)  to  be  fitted  to  a  taper- 
ing mortise  in  the  cross-cleat  of  the  for- 
ward sled  and  held  down  by  the  screw  and  nut 
at  the  extreme  end.  A  wheel  is  attached  to 
the  upper  end.  Any  blacksmith  can  make  an  ar- 
rangement like  this,  or  the  bottom  of  the  king- 
post can  be  split  (Fig.  250)  and  screwed  to  the  FlG.  249.  FIG.  251. 
front  sled,  and  the  top  can  be  made  with  a  bar  instead  of  a  wheel  (Fig.  251). 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         161 

he  can  safely  and  quickly  brake  by  hand  (not  an  easy  thing  to 
do),  the  brake  had  best  be  worked  by  the  rider  at  the  rear.  This 
has  some  obvious  disadvantages.  A  few  ideas  are  given  below, 
but  are  not  recommended  as  thoroughly  satisfactory. 

The  simple  and  primitive  way,  so  often  used  in  the  country  by 


FIG.  254. 

drivers  of  heavily  loaded  sleds,  of  dropping  a  chain  under  the 
runner  is  an  effective  method  of  braking,  provided  you  have  some 
sure  method  of  dropping  the  chain  under  the  runners.  Fig.  254 
shows  a  method  which  can  be  worked  from  either  the  forward  or 
rear  end  of  the  double-runner.  In  the  plan,  or  top  view  (Fig. 
254),  the  details  of  the  arrangement  (being  beneath  the  seat) 
would  ordinarily  be  represented  by  dotted  lines,  but  in  this  case, 
on  account  of  the  small  size  of  the  drawing,  they  are  shown  by 
full  lines,  as  they  would  look  if  the  seat-board  were  transparent. 
A  way  of  holding  up  the  middle  of  the  chain  is  shown  in  Fig. 
255.  A  small  block  a,  perhaps 
3"  long,  is  screwed  to  the  under 
side  of  the  seat  and  the  chain  is 
held  against  it  by  the  pivoted  bar 


FIG.  255. 


b  (which    is  pivoted   to  the  seat- 
board  by  a   bolt  and   is    kept   in 
position  by  the  spring),  and  on  the 
under  side  of  which  a  piece  of  metal  is  screwed  at  one  end, 
which  prevents  the  chain  from  dropping.     The  end  of  the  bar  b 


1 62          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


is  connected  by  a  wire  with  the  lever  in  front.  When  the  lever  is 
pushed  by  the  steersman's  foot  the  bar  b  is  pulled  away  from 
the  block  a  and  the  chain  falls  by  its  own  weight  under  the 
runners  of  the  rear  sled,  which  quickly  brings  the  double- 
runner  to  a  standstill.  Fig.  256  shows  the  bar  held  in  position 


FIG.  256. 


FIG.  257. 


FIG.  258. 


by  the  spring.  Fig.  257  shows  the  position  of  the  bar  after 
the  lever  has  been  pressed,  with  the  open  space  which  allows  the 
chain  to  drop.  The  same  apparatus  can  be  worked  from  the 
rear  end  of  the  double-runner  by  simply  having  the  wire  to  be 
pulled  led  back  (Fig.  258),  where  it  can  be  worked  directly 
by  the  hand  or  you  can  contrive  a  lever  to  be  raised. 

A  method  of  braking  sometimes  used  is  by  means  of  a  crooked 
lever  formed  from  an  iron  rod,  one  end  of  which  is  pulled  up  by 
the  hand  while  the  lower  part  has  one  or  more  prongs  which  dig 
into  the  surface  and  stop  the  sled.  Fig.  259  shows  a  form  some- 
times used,  and  Fig.  260  a  top  view  showing  position  of  the 
handle  and  prongs  when  not  in  use.  Any  blacksmith  can  arrange 

this  apparatus,  which 
is  attached  to  the  rear 
sled.  A  similar  ar- 
rangement can  be 
contrived  to  work  by 
the  steersman's  foot 
FIG'259-  FIG.  260.  if  desired.  One 

prong,  attached  to  the  under  side  of  the  seat-board,  can  be  ar- 
ranged as  suggested  (side  view)  in  Fig.  26oa. 

The  double-runner  should  be  thoroughly  oiled,  and  a  coat  of 
shellac,  followed  after  a  day  or  two  by  a  coat  of  varnish,  will  add 


163 

much  to  its  durability  as  well  as  to  its  appearance.     Lubricate 
the  working  parts  with  soap  or  tallow. 

If  you  have  a  gong,  it  should  be  worked  by  someone  other 
than  the  steersman. 

The    rear    sled    is   i  \ 

sometimes  arranged  to  \         ^.'-''' / 

swivel    like    the    front 
sled  and  to  be  steered 

by  a  second  steersman, 

J  FIG.  26oa. 

somewhat    after   the 

fashion  of  a  long  hook-and-ladder  truck.     This  gives  good  com- 
mand of  the  double-runner  on  curves. 

Gymnastic  Apparatus. — It  will,  in  most  cases,  be  out  of 
the  question  for  you  to  attempt  to  put  up  any  building 
roomy  enough  for  a  "  gym,"  but  sometimes  a  number  of 
you  can  club  together  and  get  the  use  of  some  vacant  room 
in  which  satisfactory  apparatus  can  be  fitted  at  moderate 
expense.  Some  of  it  may  be  rather  primitive  compared 
with  the  mechanism  of  a  modern  college  gymnasium,  but 
will  answer  the  purpose  so  far  as  getting  up  muscle  is  con- 
cerned. Most  of  you  can  find  a  place  for  one  or  more  pieces 
of  apparatus,  either  indoors  or  out.  Much  outdoor  apparatus 
can  be  supported  on  posts  driven  into  the  ground,  or  even 
by  fastening  to  trees.  The  outdoor  apparatus  is  usually 
easier  and  cheaper  to  make,  but  has  the  obvious  disadvant- 
ages of  not  being  usable  in  bad  weather  or  winter,  to  any 
great  extent,  and  will  not  last  so  long  on  account  of  ex- 
posure to  the  weather.  If,  however,  you  fix  things  the 
right  way  and  take  the  movable  parts  indoors  during  the 
bad  weather,  such  a  "  gym  "  will  last  until  it  is  outgrown, 
or  until  the  next  generation  grows  up  to  build  a  new  one. 
If  indoors  have  the  room  well  ventilated.  Often  the  second 
story  of  a  barn  makes  a  capital  gymnasium.  The  few  simple 


164          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

pieces  of  apparatus  given  here  will  be  treated  independently, 
as  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  tell  how  you  will  be  obliged 
to  arrange  them.  You  can  vary  the  designs  or  proportions 
to  suit  the  circumstances. 

White  ash,  hickory,  oak,  hard  pine,  and  for  some  purposes 
fir,  spruce,  and  white  pine,  are  suitable  for  gymnastic  ap- 
paratus. For  everything  which  is  to  stand  violent  strain 
or  wrenching,  as  the  horizontal  bars,  vaulting  poles,  and 
such  things,  use  air-dried  stock,  if  possible,  avoiding  kiln- 
dried,  as  the  latter  is  more  brittle  and  inelastic,  and  often 
utterly  unfit  for  such  uses  (see  Chapter  III.).  Of  course  for 
such  parts  only  the  toughest  woods  should  be  used,  as 
white  ash,  hickory,  oak,  spruce. 

Parallel  Bars. — A  useful  form  (and  not  beyond  the  skill 
of  an  amateur)  is  shown  in  Fig.  261.  The  height  must,  of 


FIG.  261. 


course,  depend  upon  the  gymnast,  and  can  range  from  3'  6" 
to  5'  6",  the  width  inside  (between  the  bars)  from  14"  to 
19",  and  the  length  from  6'  to  8'. 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         165 


Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  base  of  the  apparatus  can    be    simply  made  of  2"  x  6" 
planks,   as    shown    in    Fig.   261,   and    fastened   by   screws   (see 
Screws),  or,  as  shown  in  Fig.  262,  the  pieces 
can    be    halved   at    their   intersections    (see 
Halving],  in  which  case  thicker  stock  may  be 
used.     For  a  small  pair  of  bars  the  planks  for 
the  base  can  be  somewhat  lighter. 

The  upright  posts  should  be  of  strong  wood 
not  less  than  2"  x  4"  (unless  for  a  very  small 
pair  of  bars)  and  should  be  mortised  at  top 
and    bottom,   as    shown  in  Figs.   263  and  264  (see  Mortising). 
These  joints  should  be  pinned. 

The  bars  themselves  should  be  of  the  best  white  ash  (hickory, 
oak,  hard  pine  can  be  used),  not  less  than  2"  x  3"  (unless  for  a 

small  pair  of  bars).  The  ar- 
rangement and  object  of  the 
iron  braces  is  plain. 

After    the    apparatus   is    all 
fitted  together,  take  off  the  bars 


FIG.  262. 


FIG.  264. 


FIG.  263. 

and    carefully  round  the   top   edges  for  the  entire  length  (see 
Rounding  Sticks).     The  ends  which  project  beyond  the  posts  can 


1 66          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

also  be  rounded  on  the  under  side  (/.  <?.,  made  elliptical  in 
section,  as  shown),  if  desired. 

Machine-planing  is  sufficient  for  this  apparatus,  except  for  the 
bars  themselves,  which  should  be  carefully  smoothed  by  hand 
(see  Plane,  Scraper,  Sandpaper],  although,  of  course,  the  whole 
will  appear  more  nicely  finished  if  smoothed  by  hand.  The 
square  edges  should  be  "  broken  "  (i.  e.,  slightly  bevelled  or 
rounded)  so  as  not  to  be  too  sharp  in  case  of  contact  with  them. 

The  whole  apparatus  can  be  simply  oiled  thoroughly,  or  can 
be  given  in  addition  one  or  more  coats  of  shellac  or  varnish  (see 
Finishing],  but  a  coat  of  oil  is  sufficient  for  the  bars  themselves, 
as  they  will  be  polished  by  use. 

This  arrangement  has  the  advantage  of  being  portable,  but  of 
course  the  base  can  be  omitted,  if  desired,  and  the  posts  fastened 
directly  to  the  floor.  If  mortises  cannot  be  cut  in  the  floor, 
blocks  can  be  screwed  to  the  floor  around  the  base  of  each  post 
so  as  to  form  a  socket  into  which  the  post  will  fit. 

Parallel  bars  can  be  readily  made  for  outdoor  use  by  simply 
setting  four  upright  posts  (not  less  than  3"  x  4")  firmly  in  the 
ground,  at  the  same  distances  apart  as  specified  for  the  movable 
bars  described  above,  and  fastening  the  bars  to  the  tops  of  the 
posts  by  mortise  and  tenon,  as  already  shown  (Fig.  263).  The 
posts  should  reach  3'  or  more  below  ground,  both  on  account  of 
the  frost  and  to  give  increased  steadiness,  and  the  earth  should 
be  thoroughly  tamped  down  around  them  with  a  sharp-pointed 
bar  or  stick.  This  apparatus  should  be  thoroughly  oiled  and 
can  be  varnished  (see  Finishing].  The  posts  should  be  of  good 
thickness  at  the  ground,  but  can  be  tapered  toward  the  top,  on 
the  outside,  to  the  thickness  of  the  bars. 

Horizontal  Bar. — A  design  suitable  for  the  amateur 
wood-worker  is  shown  in  Fig.  265. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         167 


First  make  the  upright  posts  or  guides.  These  are  somewhat 
like  a  trough  in  shape,  side  boards  about  o"  wide  being  screwed 
(see  Screws]  on  the  sides  of  a  2"  x  3"  joist.  Fig.  266  shows  sec- 
tions in  the  middle  and  at  each  end,  blocks  being  inserted  at  the 
ends  for  strength.  The  joist  can  be  of  any  strong  wood.  The 

side  boards,  which  serve  as  guides  for 
the  bar,  had  best  be  of  hard  wood. 
Hard  pine,  oak,  maple,  ash,  or  any 
strong  wood  can  be  used.  You  will 
require  two  of  the  joists  and  four 
side  boards,  all  sawed  squarely  off 
the  exact  height  of  the  room.1 

The  usual  way  would  be  to  get  out 
the  pieces  a  little  too  long  and,  after 
they  are  fast- 
ened together, 
to  saw  off  the 
FIG.  265.  ends  so  as  to  FIG.  266. 

give  the  required  length.  Gauge  lines  on  each  side  of  the  up- 
right pieces  (see  Gauge)  and  intersect  these  lines  at  regular  dis- 
tances by  others  squared  across  and  around  three  sides  of  the 
uprights,  thus  determining  the  places  for  the  holes  for  the  pins 
which  hold  the  bar  in  position.  These  can  be  bored  from  each 
side  with  a  f"  bit  (see  Boring). 

Another  way  sometimes  adopted  when  you  have  one  or  two 
stout  timbers  on  hand  or  already  in  position  for  the 
posts  is  to  screw  two  upright  cleats  of  plank  to  the 
inner  side  of  each  timber,  thus  forming  the  groove 
for  the  bar,  as  shown  in  section  in  Fig.  267.  F        6 

1  You  can  get  this  height  by  taking  two  sticks  whose  combined  length  is 
somewhat  greater  than  the  height  of  the  room.  By  letting  the  ends  lap  over 
one  another  in  the  middle,  the  sticks  can  be  slipped  along  on  each  other  until 
they  just  reach  from  floor  to  ceiling.  Hold  them  tightly  together  (or  fasten 
them  with  a  clamp)  when  in  this  position  and  you  will  have  the  exact  length 
required. 


1 68          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


The  uprights  can  now  be  fastened  in  place,  taking  care  to  have 
them  exactly  vertical  and  in  line  with  each  other.  The  distance 
apart  will  depend  on  the  length  of  the  bar.  The  uprights  can  of 
course  be  mortised  into  the  floor,  or  the  woodwork  above,  if  the 
conditions  admit,  but  it  will  usually  answer  every  purpose  to  hold 
each  end  in  place  by  four  cleats  firmly  screwed' to  the  floor  or 
ceiling.  It  is  usually  simpler  to  have  these  uprights  extend  to 
the  ceiling,  but  this  is  not  necessary,  and  in  some  cases  it  may 
be  advisable  to  brace  them  to  the  floor  only,  by  wooden  or  iron 
braces,  in  some  of  the  ways  already  shown,  or  they  can  be  guyed 
with  wire  rope  and  turnbuckles. 

The  bar  you  had  best  have  made  or  buy  already  made,  in 
which  case  you  can  arrange  the  dimen- 
sions and  position  of  the  uprights  to  fit 
the  bar.  It  can  be  from  5'  in  length  to 
perhaps  6'  9"  (6'  is  a  good  length),  and 
should  be  not  less  than  if"  in  diameter, 
nor  over  2".  It 
should  be  of  the 
best  clear,  straight- 
grained  white  ash  or 
hickory  (air-dried, 

not  kiln-dried). 

_        ,      .  ,  FIG.  269. 

One  having  a  steel 

rod  for  a  core  is  the  best.  The  ends  can  be  left  square  and 
bound  with  a  square  ferrule  or  band  of  iron  of  the  right  size  to 
slip  easily  up  and  down  in  the  grooves  of  the  upright  guides  (Fig. 
268).  Any  blacksmith  can  arrange  this,  as  well  as  the  pins  to 
hold  the  bar.  This  apparatus  can  be  finished  in  the  same  way 
as  the  parallel  bars  just  described. 

A  suggestion  for  a  post  for  outdoor  apparatus  is  given  in  Fig. 
269.  The  post  should  be  set  in  the  ground  at  least  3'  and  the 
earth  well  tamped  down  around  it  with  a  pointed  bar  or  stick. 
The  lower  ends  of  the  braces  can  themselves  be  set  in  the  ground 
pr  abut  against  heavier  posts  set  in  the  ground.  This  apparatus 


FIG.  268. 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         169 


should  be  protected  from  the  weather  as  in  the  cases  described 
above. 

Vaulting  Apparatus. — You  can  buy  iron  standards  or 
bases,  and  of  course  the  whole  apparatus,  for  high  jumping 
and  pole  vaulting,  but  it  is  a  simple  matter  . 

to  make  a  pair  of  uprights  that  will  answer 
the  purpose  satisfactorily  (Fig.  270). 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Mark- 
ing, Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and 
look  up  any  other  references. 

Take  two  straight  sticks  10'  or  12'  long  and 
about  2^"  square.  Taper  each  piece  with  the 
plane  until,  about  i|"  square  at  one  end.  Make 
each  base  of  two  pieces  of  board  about  4"  wide 
and  perhaps  3'  long,  as  shown  in  Fig.  270,  or 
halve  two  pieces  of  plank  (see  Halving].  Mor- 
tise the  larger  ends  of  the  posts  into  these  bases 
as  shown  in  Fig.  271  (see  Mortising}. 

Before  fastening  the  posts  to  the  standards, 
mark  a  line  along  the  middle  of  one  side  of  each 
post.  On  this  line  lay  off  feet  and  inches  from 
the  bottom  and  carefully  bore  a  quarter-inch 
hole  through  the  posts  at  each  of  these  points 
(except,  of  course,  those  near  the  ground)  for 
the  pins  which  are  to  support  the  cross-bar  or 
cord  (see  'Boring).  Then  fit  the  posts  in  the 
mortises  and  brace  them  by  three  braces  each. 
The  ends  of  the  braces  can  be  cut  at  a  mitre  and  screwed  in 
place,  or  the  blacksmith  will  make  iron  braces  for  a  small  sum 
(Fig.  271).  Finish  like  the  other  apparatus  already  described. 

Vaulting  poles  should  be  round,  very  straight-grained,  from 
air-dried  (not  kiln-dried)  stock  of  light,  strong  wood,  as  spruce, 
free  from  knots  or  any  cross-grained,  weak  spots.  The  thick- 
ness should  of  course  depend  on  the  length,  but  should  not  be 


FIG.  270. 


FIG.  271. 


1 70          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


less  than  i£"  for  an  8'  pole  (which  is  quite  short),  and  the  pole 
should  taper  toward  each  end  (see  Rounding  Sticks). 

Spring-Board. — A  form  not  difficult  to  make  is  shown  in 
Fig.  272.  The  framework  can  be  made  of  any  strong  wood, 
but  the  spring-board  itself  should  be  of  the  best  quality  of 
clear,  straight-grained  white  ash. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

First  make  the  base  or  framework.  Get  out  two  pieces  of 

2"  x  3"  plank  for  the 
outside  pieces  (to  stand 
on  edge)  and  screw 
blocks  of  the  same 
plank  at  each  end  to 
raise  the  pieces  from 
the  ground  as  shown. 
Place  these  pieces  so 
that  they  spread  apart 


slightly  at  the  forward 
end  (Fig.  272),  being 
about  22"  apart  at  the  rear  end.  Fit  a  cross-tie  to  connect  these 
stringers  at  about  2'  from  the  forward  end. 

Another  cross-bar,  resting  on  the  stringers,  is  placed  nearer  the 
rear  end,  and  about  i'  from  the  rear  end  a  piece  of  3"  x  4"  joist 
is  fitted  between  the  stringers  and  held  in  place  by  a  bolt  passed 
through  it  and  the  stringers.  This  should  be  loose  enough  to 
allow  the  block  to  turn. 

The  spring-board  can  be  made  of  five  strips  of  $"  stock,  4"  wide 
and  6'  long,  screwed  to  a  cleat  at  the  forward  end,  and  securely 
bolted  to  the  block  at  the  rear  end. 

This  apparatus  can  be  finished  as  in  the  cases  described  above. 


FIG.  272. 


Vaulting-Horse,— A  simple  affair  (Fig.  273)  can  be  easily 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         171 


arranged  by  making  a  box,  perhaps  5'  long  and  8"  or  10" 
square,  which  can  be  supported  by  flaring  legs  of  joist  as 

shown  in  the  illustrations. 

First  make  the  box  (see  Box- 
making,  in  Part  II.).  The 
corners  and  edges  should  be 
rounded  (Fig.  274),  and  the 
whole  padded  and  covered  with 
such  materials  as  you  may  have 
at  hand  or  can  afford  for  the 
purpose.  Laying  out  and  saw- 
ing the  bevels  for  the  tops  of  the 
legs  is  the  hardest  part  of  the 
job.  Transfer  the  bevels  care- 


FIG.  273. 


fully  from  your 
working  draw- 
ing tothewood, 
and  saw  as  ex- 
actlytothelines 
as  you  can.  See 
also  Scribing. 
Unless  you 

have  had  much  experience  some 
paring  will  probably  be  required 
to  make  all  the  legs  fit.  To 
make  the  horse  stand  evenly  see 
Scribing,  Winding- sticks,  etc.  The 
other  general  directions  given  for 
the  apparatus  described  above  will 
suffice  for  this  horse. 

A  horse  for  outdoors 
(Fig.  275)  can  be  simply 
made  of  a  log,  perhaps  i' 
in  diameter,  smoothed 


FIG.  275. 


172          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


and  with  the  ends  rounded,  and  mounted  (by  mortising)  upon 
posts  set  in  the  ground  (see  Mortising).  The  top  can  be  covered 
with  rubber,  as  indicated  in  the  illustration. 

The  posts  should  be  set  at  least  3'  in  the  ground,  and  the  earth 
well  tamped  around  them  with  a  pointed  bar  or  stick. 

The  apparatus  can  be  finished  as  in  the  cases  given  above. 

Giant  Swing. — This  piece  of  apparatus  is  excellent  for 
outdoors,  and  affords  considerable  sport 
(Fig.  276). 

You  must  have  a  pole  or  mast  from  15'  to  25' 
long  and  from  6"  to  ro"  in  diameter  at  the  lower 
end.  At  the  smaller  end  there  should  be  an  iron 
ring  or  ferrule.  This  can  be  heated  and  driven 
on,  when  it  will  shrink  so  as  to  fit  tightly  and 
save  the  end  from  splitting.  The  upper  end  of 
the  pole  should  first  be  squarely  sawed  off 
(see  Saw).  The  swing  ropes,  of  which  you 
can  have  two  or  four  (as  you  wish),  can  be 
fastened  by  hooks  to  a  pivot  set  into  the  top  of 
the  post  (see  Boring),  the  latter  being  firmly  set 
up  in  the  ground.  The  black- 
smith can  quickly  fix  a  pivot  with 
hooks  or  pins  and  with  a  washer, 
to  which  you  can  fasten  the  ropes 
(Fig.  277).  The  lower  ends  of 
the  ropes  can  be  fastened  at  the 
proper  height  to  sticks  for  handles. 
Loops  can  also  be  made  in  which 
to  rest  one  leg  if  you  wish.  Of 


A Q_ 


FIG.  277. 


FIG.  278. 


course  you  must  have  plenty  of  room  for  swinging  around.  In 
setting  up  the  pole  dig  a  hole  3'  or  4'  deep  and  after  placing  the 
pole  tamp  the  earth  compactly  down  around  it  with  a  pointed 
bar  or  stick. 

A  cheaper  way,  but  hardly  as  good,  is  to  drive  a  i"  or  f"  rod 


Implements  for  Outdoor  Sports         173 

in  the  top  of  the  pole,  and  get  out  a  stout  piece  of  hard  wood,  3" 
or  4"  square  and  i£'  or  2'  long,  with  a  hole  in  the  middle  to  fit 
the  rod,  and  smaller  holes  near  each  end  for  fastening  the  ropes 
by  a  knot  (Fig.  278).  A  washer  can  be  put  under  the  wooden 
bar,  or  the  top  of  the  pole  may  be  slightly  rounded. 

Other  Apparatus. — There  are,  of  course,  other  useful 
forms  of  apparatus  involving  more  or  less  woodwork,  such 
as  hanging  poles,  fixed  upright  and  slanting  poles  or  bars, 
and  various  contrivances  which  you  can  readily  arrange 
without  more  special  instruction  than  has  been  given. 

Ladders  are  of  course  good,  but  it  is  usually  as  well  for  the 
amateur  to  buy  these.  A  suggestion  for  a  framework  for  hang- 


FIG.  279. 

ing  rings,  trapeze,  poles,  rope  ladders,  and  the  like,  with  fixed 
ladders  and  horizontal  bar,  is  given  in  Fig.  279. 


174          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Do  not  make  such  framework  too  light.  Fasten  the  joints  with 
bolts  rather  than  screws  or  nails,  and  suspend  the  hanging 
apparatus  from  eye-bolts  passing  through  the  timber  and  with 
washers  under  the  nuts.  The  dimensions  for  such  framework 
must  depend  upon  the  circumstances.  The  suggestions  about 
the  construction  of  the  other  pieces  of  apparatus  given  above  will 
assist  you  in  designing  and  constructing  something  to  suit  the 
circumstances. 


CHAPTER   X 

FURNITURE 

SOME  article  of  furniture  is  frequently  one  of  the  first 
objects  upon  which  the  beginner  (particularly  the  ama- 
teur of  mature  years)  tries  his  hand;  and  boys,  as  well  as 
their  elders,  sometimes  confidently  undertake  pieces  of 
cabinet-work  which  would  tax  to  the  utmost  the  skill  of  an 
experienced  cabinet-maker,  only  to  be  discouraged  by  the 
unsatisfactory  result. 

Do  not  be  beguiled  by  the  captivating  sketches  and  de- 
scriptions in  the  popular  magazines  and  papers  which  tell 
you  how  someone,  at  an  expense  of  perhaps  only  $2.98, 
easily  made  a  roomful  of  desirable  furniture  out  of  packing- 
cases,  old  bedsteads,  barrels,  soap-boxes,  broomsticks,  and 
the  like,  with  only  the  household  hammer,  saw,  and  screw- 
driver, and  a  liberal  supply  of  putty,  coloured  varnish,  and 
the  occasional  help  of  the  "  village  carpenter." 

That  sort  of  work  does  very  well  for  your  feminine  relat- 
ives if  they  wish  to  amuse  themselves  in  such  ways  or  to 
contrive  makeshifts  to  save  the  expense  of  furniture  made 
in  the  usual  way.  You  can  very  well  help  them  in  such 
work,  or  do  it  for  them,  and  some  very  neat,  cheap,  and 
serviceable  things  can  be  made  of  such  materials  (particu- 
larly with  the  use  of  cloth) — but  that  is  not  the  way  ior  you 
to  begin  your  cabinet-making.  Learn  to  do  good,  plain, 
simple,  useful  work  in  the  simplest,  most  straightforward, 
practical,  workmanlike  way.  When  you  can  do  that,  if  you 

175 


176          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

wish  to  exercise  your  ingenuity  in  patching  up  useful  articles 
from  discarded  ones  you  will  know  how  to  do  it  properly. 

Be  sure  to  begin  with  simple  articles,  avoiding  attempts 
at  elaborate  decoration.  Do  not  spend  your  time  in  mak- 
ing a  useless  object  merely  because  you  think  it  is  pretty. 
Think  first  whether  your  design  is  suited  for  the  purpose 
intended.  If  you  start  to  make  a  case  for  your  books, 
select  or  make  your  design  accordingly,  and  do  not  be  mis- 
led, by  the  multitude  of  overelaborated  articles  with  which 
the  market  is  flooded,  into  making  a  parlour  bric-a-brac 
cabinet,  all  built  up  of  turning,  and  jig-sawing,  and  machine- 
made  carvings,  too  complicated  and  fragile  for  practical 
use,  with  the  result  that  the  books  continue  to  be  stored 
on  a  closet  shelf  or  on  the  floor. 

Next  look  to  the  block-form  or  general  proportions  of  the 
object.  The  importance  of  this  is  often  wholly  overlooked 
by  the  average  amateur, — sometimes  because  he  is  too  en- 
grossed in  trying  to  make  the  details  pretty, — but  it  is 
essential  in  making  a  handsome  piece  of  furniture.  No 
amount  of  exquisite  carving,  inlaying,  or  decoration  of  any 
kind  (however  beautiful  in  itself)  will  make  an  ill-shaped, 
badly  proportioned  article  a  thing  of  beauty;  while  a  well- 
shaped  and  well-proportioned  object  will  be  pleasing  to  the 
eye  even  if  free  from  decoration  of  any  kind. 

Of  course,  no  rule  can  be  given  for  designing  a  handsome 
piece  of  furniture  any  more  than  for  painting  a  beautiful 
picture,  but  when  you  have  sketched  out  the  general  shape 
and  proportions  and  think  you  have  done  as  well  as  you 
can,  there  is  one  thing  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind — that  the 
average  amateur  is  much  more  likely  to  spoil  the  appearance 
of  his  work  by  adding  too  much  so-called  ornamentation 
than  by  leaving  the  work  too  plain.  When  you  become 
proficient  enough  to  add  carving,  or  other  form  of  decoration, 


Furniture  177 

to  your  work,  by  all  means  use  any  skill  you  may  have 
in  such  ways,  but  even  then  remember  not  to  use  such 
ornamentation  too  freely.  Avoid  "  gingerbread  "  work, 
meaningless  jig-sawed  decorations,  and  machine-made  carv- 
ings, turned  out  by  the  gross. 

Look  at  some  of  your  great-grandmother's  furniture  (if 
you  are  fortunate  enough  to  be  able  to  do  so)  and  think 
how  long  it  has  lasted,  and  compare  it  with  the  cheap 
modern  furniture  after  the  latter  has  been  in  use  for  a  few 
years.  How  much  of  the  latter  would  be  in  existence  now 
if  it  had  been  made  when  the  ancestral  articles  were  ?  The 
durability  of  the  old  things  is  partly  due  to  the  quality  of 
the  wood  and  its  seasoning.  The  use  of  whole  pieces  (in- 
stead of  scraps  of  all  kinds  of  stuff  glued  up  with  cheap 
glue),  the  way  the  articles  were  put  together,  and  the  gen- 
erally honest  work  put  into  them  had  much  to  do  with  it. 

Bear  in  mind  in  undertaking  a  piece  of  cabinet-work  that 
you  must  hold  yourself  to  a  higher  standard  in  the  matter 
of  accuracy  of  detail,  in  order  to  produce  a  really  satisfactory 
result,  than  is  necessary  for  much  of  the  other  work  often 
done  by  amateurs.  Many  slight  inaccuracies,  which  are  of 
little  consequence  in  the  rougher  kinds  of  work,  become 
such  gaping  and  conspicuous  defects  in  cabinet-work  as  to 
detract  much  from  the  satisfaction  that  should  be  taken  in 
home-made  articles.  Remember,  then,  that  while  it  is  easy 
to  make  your  furniture  strong,  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to 
produce  close,  accurate  joints,  smooth,  true  surfaces,  square, 
clean-cut  edges,  and  a  good,  smooth  finish.  Choose,  there- 
fore, simple  forms,  easily  put  together,  for  your  early 
attempts;  for  it  is  much  better  to  make  a  modest  and  un- 
pretentious article  well  than  to  make  an  elaborate  one  badly. 

First  and  foremost,  when  you  come  to  the  actual  work, 
use  thoroughly  seasoned  wood.  This  is  essential  to  making 


178          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

permanently  satisfactory  furniture,  as  you  will  learn  after 
you  have  spent  much  time  in  making  an  article  out  of  half- 
seasoned  stock,  only  to  see  the  ruin  of  your  carefully  exe- 
cuted work  begin  as  soon  as  the  finish  is  dry,  or  even  before. 

Although  it  is  very  easy  to  tell  you  to  use  nothing  but 
properly  seasoned  stock,  you  will  doubtless  sometimes  be 
deceived,  however,  as  it  is  by  no  means  an  easy  matter  for 
the  beginner  to  determine;  but  you  can  at  least  try  your 
best  to  get  wood  in  suitable  condition,  for  it  will  be  time 
well  spent.  (Read  the  remarks  on  seasoning  in  Chapter  III.) 

Be  content  with  the  more  easily  worked  woods  in  your 
early  attempts.  Do  not  buy  highly  figured,  heavy,  and 
hard  San  Domingo  mahogany  (no  matter  how  beautiful)  for 
your  first  table  or  bookcase — nor  even  quartered  oak,  nor 
mottled  walnut  burl,  nor  wavy  maple — but  begin  with  plain, 
straight-grained  material,  easy  to  work. 

White  pine  is  often  considered  rather  cheap  and  common 
in  appearance,  but  it  is  suitable  for  many  things  in  the  way 
of  furniture.  It  is  one  of  the  best  woods  to  "  stand,"  or 
hold  its  shape,  and  if  not  desired  of  the  natural  colour 
(which,  is,  however,  suitable  and  attractive  for  some  objects) 
it  can  be  painted.  It  can  also  be  stained,  but  is  not  to  be 
compared  with  whitewood  in  this  respect. 

Whitewood  is,  like  pine,  easy  to  work,  durable,  can  be 
obtained  in  wide  boards,  can  be  painted,  and  takes  a  stain 
exceedingly  well. 

Black  walnut  is  good  to  work  and  is  well  suited  for  furni- 
ture, though  its  sombre  hue  is  not  always  desirable. 

Cherry,  when  soft  and  straight-grained,  is  easy  to  work 
and  is  often  (when  highly  figured  or  wavy)  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  woods.  It  is  easy  to  finish. 

Mahogany  is  a  wood  of  great  beauty  and  durability,  and 
holds  its  shape  exceedingly  well,  but  the  beginner  should 


Furniture  179 

confine  himself  at  first  to  the  lighter,  softer,  straight-grained 
varieties,  which  can  be  easily  obtained.  You  can  then  try 
the  more  highly  figured  and  harder  kinds,  which  will  tax 
your  skill  in  smoothing  them. 

Oak  in  its  softer,  straight-grained  forms  is  well  suited  to 
the  work  of  the  beginner.  It  is  durable,  and  an  article 
made  of  oak  will  stand  more  abuse  without  serious  deface- 
ment than  most  of  the  other  woods  used  for  furniture. 
When  quarter-sawed  it  is  more  difficult  to  smooth  than 
plain,  straight-grained  oak,  but  as  you  acquire  skill  you 
will  find  quartered  oak  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  woods. 
Oak  can  be  stained  if  desired. 

Many  other  kinds  of  wood  are  sometimes  used,  as  syca- 
more, ash,  birch,  beech,  maple,  rosewood,  butternut,  ebony, 
etc.,  but  these  woods  you  can  try  for  yourself,  if  you  wish, 
as  you  progress  in  skill,  and  thus  learn  their  peculiar  char- 
acteristics. 

An  important  point,  not  always  realised  by  the  amateur, 
is  that  the  stock  for  good  furniture  should  be  planed  true, 
that  is,  free  from  winding.  Buy  stock  that  is  as  true  as  you 
can  find  (see  Chapter  III.)  and  have  it  planed  to  be  as  true 
as  possible.  Have  as  much  of  this  truing  done  by  machine 
as  you  can  afford,  for  it  is  not  worth  while  to  spend  an  hour 
in  working  down  a  surface  by  hand  (see  Truing  Surfaces,  in 
Part  V.)  when  a  machine  will  do  it  in  five  minutes.  There 
are,  of  course,  cases  in  which  this  accuracy  is  not  essential, — 
and  judgment  must  be  used,  as  in  all  intelligent  work, — but, 
as  a  rule,  it  is  highly  important  that  the  surfaces  should  be 
reasonably  true  if  you  wish  to  do  your  work  as  it  should  be 
done.  The  pieces,  when  fitted,  should  come  together  easily 
and  naturally,  and  not  require  to  be  sprung  or  twisted  or 
bent  in  order  to  be  able  to  put  the  article  together. 

Your  furniture  should  always  be  hand-planed  and  scraped, 


i8o          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

for,  though  the  slight  hollows  and  ridges  left  by  the  planing- 
machine  may  not  be  noticeable  while  the  wood  is  in  its 
natural  state,  as  soon  as  the  surface  is  finished  and  begins 
to  have  a  lustre  these  inequalities  become  conspicuous. 
This  applies  to  any  small  irregularities  of  the  surface.  You 
cannot  get  the  surface  too  smooth.  You  will  be  surprised 
at  first  to  see  how  noticeable  slight  defects  in  the  surface 
become  in  the  finished  work. 

Curved  edges  occur  often  in  furniture.  Many  of  these 
curves  can  be  cut  with  a  turning-saw  or  a  keyhole-  and  com- 
pass-saw, but  the  easiest  way  (and  the  most  accurate,  until 
you  have  acquired  considerable  skill  with  the  saw)  is  to  have 
them  cut  at  a  mill  by  a  jig-saw  or  band-saw  at  but  slight 
expense.  Have  a  piece  of  waste  wood  put  on  the  under 
side  to  prevent  the  burr,  or  ragged  edge,  left  by  the 
sawing.  These  curves  can  be  smoothed  with  the  spoke- 
shave  alone,  or  spokeshave  and  file,  or  file  alone,  according 
to  the  conditions,  as  you  will  soon  learn  by  experience,  the 
final  finishing  of  the  surface  being  given  with  fine  sandpaper. 

Put  the  different  parts  of  your  article  of  furniture  com- 
pletely together  once  (without  glue  or  nails)  to  see  that 
everything  fits  right,  that  the  joints  close  properly,  and  that 
the  whole  job  is  as  it  should  be,  before  putting  together 
permanently. 

This  often  seems  to  the  amateur  a  needless  precaution 
(and  it  occasionally  is),  but,  although  it  takes  some  time,  it 
is  the  practice  with  skilled  workmen  and  therefore  a  pre- 
caution which  should  not  be  neglected  by  the  beginner. 
You  will  discover  the  importance  of  this  when  you  carelessly 
assume  that  all  the  parts  of  a  writing-desk,  for  instance,  will 
come  together  properly,  or  that  you  can  easily  correct  errors 
as  you  go  along,  only  to  find,  when  you  have  the  work 
nearly  put  together  that  something  is  wrong.  In  the  effort 


Furniture  181 

to  mend  the  trouble  you  will  be  apt  to  loosen  the  parts 
already  fastened,  or  will  have  to  take  the  whole  apart,  which, 
when  glue  or  nails  are  used,  is  particularly  discouraging, 
and  apt  to  damage  the  quality  of  the  work. 

Be  particular  to  clamp  the  parts  of  your  work  together 
thoroughly  when  using  glue  and  to  allow  time  enough  be- 
fore removing  the  clamps  (see  Clamps  and  Gluing). 

Care  should  be  taken  in  putting  your  work  together  to 
get  it  "  square,"  that  is,  to  prove  the  accuracy  of  the  right 
angles.  In  some  cases  this  is  of  course  essential  to  having 
the  work  come  together  at  all.  In  others,  the  appearance 
will  be  much  injured  if  the  article  tips  to  one  side  or  is 
slanting  or  twisted.  In  all  cases  it  is  essential  to  the  proper 
closing  up  of  the  joints.  It  will  not  do  to  assume,  as  the 
beginner  often  naturally  does,  that  because  the  parts  of  the 
work  seem  to  be  accurately  made  that  the  whole,  when  put 
together,  will,  therefore,  be  square.  It  must  be  tested. 
You  will  be  surprised  to  see  how  much  "  out  of  square  " 
and  how  winding  the  result  of  your  most  careful  work  will 
sometimes  be  if  you  do  not  test  it  as  you  put  the  parts  to- 
gether. In  addition  to  the  obvious  way  of  applying  the 
square  (see  Square]  to  the  angles,  using  the  large  steel  square 
when  you  can:  there  are  many  cases  in  which  measuring 
diagonals  is  a  good  test,  altering  the  angles  of  the  work 
until  the  two  opposite  diagonals  are  equal,  when  the  vvoik 
will,  of  course,  be  rectangular.  This  is  a  good  way  for 
large  "  case  "  work,  using  a  stick,  or  fitting  two  adjustable 
sticks,  after  the  manner  described  on  page  167,  between  the 
angles,  when  the  latter  can  be  altered  until  the  diagonals  are 
equal. 

At  the  same  time  that  you  are  testing  for  squareness  you 
must  also  look  out  for  winding,  by  sighting  across  the  front 
or  back,  using  winding-sticks,  if  necessary. 


1 82  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

When  your  work  has  a  back  fitted  in,  as  in  the  case  of  a 
bookcase  or  cabinet,  this  will  help  you  much  in  the  final 
adjustment. 

Do  not  attempt  to  put  your  case  work  together  in  an  up- 
right position,  but  upon  horses  horizontally,  or  flat  upon  its 
back  or  face. 

It  is  well  to  use  corner-blocks  in  the  angles  of  your  furni- 
ture, in  places  where  they  will  not  show  (see  Corner-blocks, 
in  Part  V.)- 

After  you  begin  to  acquire  some  proficiency  in  your  work, 
a  little  beading  or  chamfering  can  sometimes  be  used  to  good 
advantage,  but  it  is  well  not  to  be  too  lavish  with  this  kind 
of  ornamentation. 

Wall-cabinets  and  other  articles  to  be  hung  on  the  wall 
can  be  neatly  attached  to  the  wall  by  brass  mirror-plates 
screwed  upon  the  back.  These  should  usually  be  sunk  into 
the  wood  so  that  the  back  will  be  smooth. 

Your  furniture  can  be  finished  with  oil  or  wax  alone,  or 
with  shellac  or  varnish,  as  described  in  Part  V.  In  the  case 
of  articles  to  be  hung  against  wall-paper  or  where  any  deli- 
cate fabric  will  be  exposed,  it  is  well  to  avoid  finishing  with 
oil  alone  unless  the  greatest  care  is  used,  for  a  very  slight 
surplus  of  oil  will  quickly  soil  the  paper.  For  the  work  of 
the  amateur  nothing  is  better  than  shellac. 

When  your  work  is  made  of  parts  which  can  be  readily 
separated,  such  parts  as  are  joined  without  glue  or  nails,  it 
is  best  to  take  the  work  apart  before  finishing.  Unhinge 
doors  and  take  off  locks,  escutcheons,  mirror-plates,  han- 
dles, and  the  like.  Take  out  removable  shelves,  backs,  and 
all  detachable  parts.  Finish  all  these  parts  separately  and 
then  put  the  work  together  again.  You  can  finish  the  sepa- 
rate parts  better  and  more  easily,  but  of  course  this  can  only 
be  done  with  such  parts  as  are  readily  separable. 


Furniture  183 

In  some  cases  it  is  desirable  to  stain  your  furniture,  but 
as  a  rule  you  cannot  improve  on  the  natural  colouring,  which 
deepens  and  mellows  with  age.  If  you  wish  mahogany- 
coloured  furniture,  use  mahogany,  or,  if  you  cannot  afford 
that,  simply  paint  or  stain  some  cheaper  wood  of  the  de- 
sired colour,  but  do  not  try  to  imitate  the  grain  of  the 
mahogany.  There  are  two  objections  to  these  attempts  at 
imitation.  First,  they  are  not  honest ;  and,  in  the  second 
place,  the  deception  is  usually  a  failure. 

Finally,  be  simple  and  honest  in  all  your  designing,  your 
construction  (which  above  all  things  should  be  strong  and 
durable),  and  your  finishing.  Do  not  put  in  your  room  an 
object  which  appears  at  a  distance  of  ten  feet  to  be  a  ma- 
hogany or  black  walnut  centre-table,  but  which  on  closer 
examination  turns  out  to  be  a  pine  washstand  in  disguise. 

There  are,  as  you  know,  hundreds  of  articles  of  household 
utility,  other  than  those  here  given,  which  are  suitable  for 
the  amateur  to  make,  but  it  is  hoped  that  the  suggestions 
about  those  which  are  included  in  this  chapter  will  be  of 
service  in  the  construction  of  other  objects. 

Book-Rack. — A  sim- 
ple rack  for  books  (Fig. 
280)  can  be  of  any 
length  desired,  about 

six  inches  wide,  and  of 

•     I*    .      i  i       /•  FIG.  280. 

half -inch    stock    (or 

slightly  thinner),  but  the  dimensions  can  be  varied  accord- 
ing to  circumstances. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

Be  sure  that  the  bottoms  of  the  ends  are  accurately  cut.  The 
other  edges  can  be  rounded  if  you  wish  (see  Sfokeshave  and 


1 84          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


Pile).     The  hinges  should  be  sunk  in  the  wood,  so  that  they  will 
not  injure  the  books  (see  Hinges). 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Desk-Rack. — An  easily  made  arrangement  to  put  on  the 
back  of  a  table  or  desk  is  shown  in  Fig.  281,  and  can  be 


FIG.  281. 

made  of  stock  of  from  %"  to  %"  thickness,  according  to  the 
size  of  the  rack. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

First  make  the  two  boxes  (see  Box-making,  page  219),  and  then 
the  shelf  above  them.  This  can  be  fastened  to  the  tops  of  the 
boxes  by  screws  from  underneath.  The 
edge  can  be  slightly  rounded.  The  rail 
or  guard  at  the  back  and  ends  of  the 
shelf  should  be  made  independently. 
The  back  and  ends  can  be  joined  as 

shown  in  Fig.  282,  and  the  whole  then  fastened  to  the  shelf  by 
screws  (see  Boring  and  Screws)  from  underneath  before  fasten- 
ing the  shelf  to  the  boxes,  or  it  can  be  dowelled  on,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  282a  (see  Dowelling). 

Partitions  can  be  fitted  in  the  boxes,  forming  pigeonholes  or 
compartments,   if  desired.     These  partitions  can  be  nailed  in 


FIG.  282. 


FIG.  282a. 


Furniture 


185 


place  or,  to  be  more  workmanlike,  can  be  fitted  in  grooves  (see 
Grooving  and  Shelves). 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Hanging  Book-Shelf. — A  wall-shelf  (Fig.  283)  is  useful 
and  good  practice  for  the  amateur.     It  should  not  be  made 
too  deep  (from  front  to 
back).      Half-inch    stock 
is  heavy  enough,    if  the 
shelf   is    not    more  than 
two  feet  long. 

Before    beginning    work 

read     carefully    Marking, 

Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane, 

in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  FIG.  283. 

other  references. 

This  shelf  can  be  simply  put  together  by  nailing,  setting  the  nails 

carefully  (see  Nailing  and  Nail-set}.     Carefully  mark  lines  (using 

the  square)  by  which  to  nail  the  pieces  in  their  proper  places.     It 

is  not  worth  while  to  use  glue  if  the 
parts  are  put  together  in  this  way. 
A  stronger  and  more  workmanlike 
way  is  to  groove  the  lower  shelf  into 
the  sides  and  the  sides  into  the 
upper  shelf  (see  Grooving).  In  this 
case  glue  should  be  used  and  the 
work  tightly  clamped  (see  Gluing and 
Clamps}.  It  will  be  much  stronger 

to  fit  a  back  between  the  two  shelves  and  the  sides.     This  should 

properly  be  set  in  a  rabbet  cut  around  the  space,  as  shown  in  Fig. 

284  (see  Rabbet}. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 


FIG.  284. 


1 86          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


See  also  Scraper, 


smoothing,  putting  together,   and  finishing. 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Wall-Cabinet. — An  open  cabinet   or  hanging   case  for 
books,  magazines,  or  other  small  articles  (Fig.  285)  can  be 

of  any  desired  proportions,  but 
should  not  be  very  large.  Half- 
inch  stock  is  sufficiently  thick. 

Before  beginning  work  read 
carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look 
up  any  other  references. 

This  case  should  have  a  back. 
Rabbets  should  be  cut  to  receive 
the  back,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
wall-shelf  just  shown  (see  Rabbet), 
the  top  and  middle  shelves  being 
narrower  than  the  lower  shelf  by 
the  thickness  of  the  back. 

This  case  can  simply  be  nailed 
together  (see  Nailing  and  Nail- 


FIG.  285. 


set),  but  it  will  be  better  to  groove  the  shelves  into  the  sides  (see 
Grooving). 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Hanging  Bookcase. — A  simple  and  useful  case  for  the 
wall  (Fig.  286)  can  be  made  on  much  the  same  principle  as 
the  small  case  just  shown.  It  is  well  not  to  make  such  cases 
very  large,  and,  unless  quite  small,  stock  from  f"  to  f"  in 
thickness  will  be  suitable. 


Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 


Furniture 


187 


Instead  of  a  back,  strips  can  be  screwed  on  vertically  (Fig. 
286),  being  sunk  so  as  to  be  flush  with  the  back  of  the  case 
(Fig.  287). 

See    end    of    introduction    to 
this  chapter  for  directions  about 


FIG.  286. 


FIG.  287. 
See  also   Scraper, 


smoothing,   putting  together,   and  finishing 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Wall-Shelves. — An  easily  made 
arrangement  is  suggested  in  Fig.  288. 
The  design  can  easily  be  varied  if 
you  wish. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully 
Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane,  in 
Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  refer- 
ences. 

The  construction  is  extremely  simple, 
the  shelves  being  merely  screwed  on 
from  the  back. 

Get  out  the  back  and  the  shelves,  and  smooth  them.     Mark 
lines  across  the  face  of  the  former  at  the  places  for  the  shelves, 


FIG.  288. 


1 88          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

bore  holes  through  the  back  from  the  face  for  the  screws  (see 
Boring),  and  countersink  the  holes  on  the  back  (see  Countersink). 
Screw  the  shelves  in  place  (see  Screws)  to  see  that  everything  is 
right,  then  take  apart  and  finish. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Pipe-Rack. — A  modification  of   the  shelf  arrangement 

just  described  makes  a  good 
rack  for  pipes  and  other  articles 
for  smoking  (Fig.  289). 

Before  beginning  work  read 
carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look 
up  any  other  references. 

This  differs  from  the  article  just 
described  only  in  the  shape  of  the 
shelves,  which  have  openings  in 


FIG.  209. 


FIG.  290. 


uic  edge  for  holding  pipes.  These  openings  can  be  made  either 
with  a  fine  saw  or  by  boring  holes  and  cutting  in  to  them  from 
the  edge  (Fig.  290). 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 


Wall-Shelves. — A  quite  simple  form  is  shown  in  Fig. 
291,  having  a  small  box  with  lid.     A  combination  of  this 


Furniture 


189 


form  with  the  design  for  a  pipe-rack  can  easily  be  made  if 
desired. 


Before  beginning  work  read 
carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look 
up  any  other  references. 

The  construction  is  plain  from 
the  cases  already  described.  The 
hinges  should  be  sunk  in  the  edge 
of  the  lid  (see  Hinges}. 

See  end  of  introduction  to 
this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and 
finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  finishing,  in 
Part  V. 


FIG.  291. 


Wall -Cabinet  — The   cabi- 
net shown  in  Fig.  292  should  be  rather  small,  for  if  large  it 

will  look  clumsy.     It  can  be 
made  of  half-inch  stock. 

Before  beginning  work  read 
carefully  Marking,  Rule, 
Square,  Saw,  Plane,  in  Part 
V.,  and  look  up  any  other  ref- 
erences. 

The  construction  is  quite 
similar  to  the  preceding  cases. 

If  you  have  no  board  wide 
enough  for  the  back,  two  can 

be    joined    (see    pointing   and 
FIG.  292.  .     . 

Gluing}. 

The   cupboard  is  simply  a   box   without  front  or  back   (see 


190          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


Box-making,  page  219)  screwed  to  the  back  from  behind  (see  Bor- 
ing and  Screws).  The  shelves  at  the  sides  of  the  cupboard  and  the 
bracket  underneath  it  can  be  screwed  from  the  back  and  from 
the  inside  of  the  cabinet,  as  in  the  preceding  cases. 

The  door  (see  Doors)  can  be  fitted  and  hung  (see  Hinges)  after 
the  whole  has  been  put  together. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Corner-Shelves  or  Cabinets. — A  simple  form  of  hang- 
ing corner-shelves  is  shown  in  Fig.  293.  This  can  be  of  any 
size,  of  course,  but  such  articles  look  clumsy  if  made  very 
large.  Half-inch  stock  is  heavy 
enough  unless  the  case  is  quite 
large,  when  £"  or  -|-"  thickness  can 
be  used. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully 
Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane,  in 
Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  refer- 
ences. 


FIG.  293.  FIG.  294. 

One  of  the  sides  can  be  made  wider  than  the  other  by  the 
thickness  of  the  stock,  so  as  to  lap  over  and  secure  a  tight  and 
strong  joint  at  the  back.  The  top  board  (with  rounding  front) 
can  simply  be  nailed  down  on  the  sides  (see  Nailing  and  Nail-set), 


Furniture 


191 


or,  to  be  more  workmanlike,  a  rabbet  (Fig.  294)  can  be  cut 
around  the  edge  of  the  top  on  the  under  side  into  which  to  fit  the 
sides,  which  can  be  screwed  in  place  (see  Rabbet,  Boring,  Counter- 
sink, and  Screws].  This  rabbet 
should  not  come  quite  to  the  front 
edge  of  the  top. 

The  shelves  can  be  screwed  in 
place  from  the  back  (see  Screws), 
carefully  marking  lines  with  the 
square,  for  boring  the  holes,  be- 
fore putting  the  case  together, 
and  countersinking  the  holes 
upon  the  back. 

This  case  (being  fastened  by 
screws)  can  be  taken  apart  for 
finishing. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this 
chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and 
finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper  ,  and  Finishing,  in 
Part  V. 


A  standing  cabinet  like  Fig. 
295  can  be  made  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  hanging  cabinet 
just  shown,  but  can,  of  course, 
be  larger.  Stock  from  f  "  to 


FIG.  295. 
in  thickness  can  be  used. 


The  rail  at  the  top  can  be  made  and  put  on  as  directed  for 
the  desk-rack  shown  in  Figs.  281  and  282. 

Medicine-Cabinet.  —  Any  small  cabinet  can  be  used  for 
medicines  by  simply  arranging  the  shelves  in  any  convenient 
manner.  A  simple  way  is  to  have  a  series  of  horizontal 


192          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


grooves  on  the  inside  of  each  side,  into  which  the  shelves 
can  be  slipped  at  any  desired  distance  apart.      A  design 

for  an  easily  constructed 
medicine-cabinet  for  the 
wall  is  shown  in  Figs.  296 
and  297. 

Before  beginning  work 
read  carefully  Marking, 
Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane, 
in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any 
other  references. 

A  good  size  for  a  small 
cabinet  is  to  have  the  main 
box-part,  the  cabinet  proper, 
about  15"  wide,  20"  high, 
and  7"  deep.  It  can  be 
made  of  |"  stock.  The  con- 
struction is  like  that  of  the  other  cases  already  shown.  The 
joints  should  properly  be  grooved  (see  Grooving  and  Gluing}, 
but  the  whole  case  can  be  nailed  together,  although  the  result 
will  be  inferior  (see  Nailing  and  Nail-set}.  The  back  should  be 
set  in  a  rabbet  as  in  the  cases  already  shown.  The  arrangement 
of  the  hinges  J3  shown  in  the  illustration  (see  Hinges}. 

The  partitions  can  be  of  thin  stock  (£"  or  -f$"}.  The  doors 
can  have  thick  cleats,  shaped  as  shown  in  Fig.  297  (enlarged  in 
Fig.  297a),  with  holes  bored  down  from  the  top  for  homoeopathic 
phials.  Care  must  be  taken  not  to  bore  the  holes  through  (see 
Boring).  Stop  boring  before  the  spur  comes  through  and  clean 
out  the  bottoms  of  the  holes  with  a  gouge. 

A  small  drawer  can  be  fitted  to  one  of  the  small  compartments, 
as  in  Fig.  297  (see  Drawers}.  If  the  edges  of  the  doors  are  made 
to  lap  slightly  where  they  come  together,  rabbets  being  cut  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  edges  (Fig.  298),  the  joint  will  be  tighter, 


FIG.  296. 


Furniture 


but  a  little  space  must  be  allowed  or  the  doors  may  bind.     The 
rest  of  the  details  are  like  those  of  the  cases  already  described. 


FIG.  297. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,   and  finishing.     See  also   Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part.  V. 


FIG.  2973. 


FIG.  298. 


Bookcases.  —  A  plain  case  (Fig.  299)  can  be  made  of  any 
desired  size.  If  quite  small  £"  stock  can  be  used,  but  ordi- 
narily |"  thickness  will  be  best.  The  method  of  construction 
is  practically  the  same  as  in  the  cases  already  described. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  shelves  can  all  be  fastened  in,  if  desired,  but  a  good  way 


13 


194          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


is  to  groove  the  top  and  bottom  shelves  into  the  sides  and  make 
those  between  movable  (see  Shelves,  in  Part  V.). 

The  back  can  be  fitted  by  simply  cutting  a  rabbet  on  the 
back  edge  of  each  side  for  the  entire  length  (see  Rabbet),  and 
making  the  shelves  of  such  a  width  that  they  will  not  project  be- 
yond the  rabbet.  A  narrow  piece  can  be  screwed  from  the  back 
lengthways,  above  the  upper  shelf,  as  shown  in  Fig.  300.  The 


FIG.  299 


FIG.  300. 


rest  of  the  back  can  then  be  screwed  in  place  (see  Boring  and 
Screws).  The  back,  being  too  wide  to  be  made  of  one  board, 
can  very  well  (for  a  plain  case  of  this  sort)  be  of  matched  boards 
or  sheathing.1  Do  not  force  the  back  too  tightly  into  place, — that 
is,  crossways  of  the  boards.  Allow  a  little  play  for  the  expansion 
and  contraction. 

1  This  method  of  putting  in  a  back  answers  very  well  for  the  beginner,  and 
is  often  used  in  cheap  work,  but,  unless  quite  small,  the  really  workmanlike 
way  is  to  make  a  panelled  frame,  which  is  screwed  in  place  as  one  piece.  The 
degree  to  which  the  panelling  is  carried  depends  upon  the  size  and  shape 
of  the  back.  When  you  become  able  to  make  your  work  more  neatly  and 
accurately  than  can  be  expected  of  the  beginner,  you  will  do  well  to  construct 
the  backs  in  this  way,  but  it  involves  much  more  labour  and  is  hardly  worth 
while  for  such  simple  work  as  you  will  do  at  first. 


Furniture 


'95 


FIG.  301. 


See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

A  "  knock-down  "  method  of  putting  together  with  tenons 
and  wooden  pins  (Fig.  301)  is  not 
very  difficult,  but  requires  care  and 
accuracy.  In  the  case  of  the  book- 
case just  shown,  the  upper  and  lower 
shelves  can  be  pinned  through  the 
sides,  which  will  hold  the  case  firmly, 
and  the  other  shelves  can  be  mov- 
able (see  Shelves).  A  case  fastened 
in  this  way  can  be  readily  taken 
apart.  This  method  can  be  applied  to  other  designs  for 
bookcases  and  cabinets. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  general  principle  is  that  of  the  mortise  and  tenon  (see 
Mortising).  If  you  cut  the  mortises  for  the  pins  before  cutting 
the  tenons  on  the  ends  of  the  shelves  you  will  avoid  the  liability 
of  splitting  the  tenons.  The  pins  should  taper  and  the  angles  of 
the  pins  and  tenons  be  very  slightly  bevelled,  that  is,  the  sharp 
edge  taken  off. 

The  ends  of  these  shelves  can  be  slightly  "cut  under"  or 
bevelled  inwards  (see  Fig.  302,  which  is  exaggerated),  on  the 
same  principle  that  the  ends  of  floor  boards  and 
the  like  are  sometimes  slightly  bevelled,  to  ensure 

FIG.  302.         a  closely  fitting  joint. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

A  good  form  for  an  open  bookcase  suitable  for  the  be- 


196          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

ginner  to  make  is  shown  in  Fig.  303.  This  design  is  suit- 
able for  a  low,  or  dwarf,  bookcase  of  whatever  length  may 
be  desired.  If  of  quite  small  size  it  can  be  made  of  |"  stock 
throughout,  but  in  most  cases  a  thin  plank  (perhaps  i£"  to 
i%"  thick)  had  best  be  used  for  the  ends. 
A  curtain  can  be  added  if  desired. 


Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  curves  of  the  ends  can  be  sawed  by  hand  (see  Turning- 
saw  and  Keyhole  and  Compass  Saw}, 
or  better  by  band-saw  and  jig-saw  at 
a  mill,  and  smoothed  with  spoke- 
shave  and  file  (see  Spokeshave  and 
File).  The  shelves  (at  least  the  up- 
per and  lower  ones)  should  be 
grooved  into  the  sides  and  glued 
(see  Grooving  and  Gluing),  although, 
as  in  the  other  cases  already  de- 
scribed, nails  can  be  used,  but  the 
result  will  be  inferior  (see  Nailing 
and  Nail- set]. 

The  plainness  of  the  upright  edges 
of  the  ends  can  be  relieved  by  a  little 
beading  (Fig.  305),  which  you  can 
do  yourself  or  have  moulded  at  the 
mill  (see  Beading). 

Little  brackets,  screwed  under  the  lower  shelf  at  each  end,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  306,  add  to  the  stiffness  of  the  case.  A  back  can 
be  fitted  into  rabbets  as  described  above,  but  in  this  case  it 
had  best  not  come  above  the  top  shelf,  a  rabbet  being  cut  on 
the  under  edge  of  the  latter  as  well  as  in  the  sides.  The  bottom 
shelf  can  simply  be  made  narrower  and  without  a  rabbet. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 


FIG.  303. 


Furniture 


197 


smoothing,   putting  together,   and  finishing.     See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

The  bookcase  shown  in  Fig.  304  can  be  of  any  desired 
size  and  proportions.  It  can  be  of  -J"  stock,  although  the 
upright  ends  can  well  be  of  thin  plank. 


FIG.  304. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

This  case  can  simply  be  nailed  together  (see  Nailing  and 
Nail-set],  but  the  more  workmanlike  way  is  to  groove  the  sides 
into  the  top  and  the  bottom  shelf  into  the  sides  (see  Grooving], 
The  second  shelf  from  the  top  can  be  grooved  into  the  sides, 
and  the  upright  partition  forming  the  cupboard  can  also  be 
grooved  in  place.  This  process  involves  careful  laying  out  and 
accurate  cutting.  The  other  shelves  can  be  removable.  The 
base-board  can  be  bevelled  or  curved  on  the  top  edge  (or  moulded 
by  machine)  and  can  be  mitred  at  the  corners.  It  can  be  fastened 
with  fine  nails  (see  Nailing  and  Nail-set).  The  front  piece  can 
be  glued  as  well  as  the  mitred  joints.  A  moulding  can  be  nailed 
around  the  top  as  shown,  being  mitred  at  the  corners.1 

1  A  more  workmanlike  way  is  to  work  all  such  mouldings  on  the  edge  of  the 


198          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


The  other  details  of  construction  do  not  differ  from  those  of 
the  cases  just  given,  except  in  the  matter  of  making  and  fitting 
the  door,  for  which  see  Doors  in  Part  V. 

A  common  way  of  making  the  sides  of 
such  cases  is  to  make  the  side  itself  of 
board  thickness,  and  to  face  the  front  edge 
with  a  strip  (which  can  be  glued  on)  from 
i%"  to  2"  wide,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
case,  in  the  way  shown  in  Fig.  305  (see 
Gluing).  This  gives  a  wider  edge  to  the 
side  and  the  shelves  can  fit  behind  the  fac- 
ing strip. 

Beading  can  be  worked  on  this  strip,  as 
shown  (see  Beading). 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter 
for    directions    about  smoothing,    putting 
together,  and  finishing.     See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 


FIG.  305. 


Desk  and  Bookcase. — Various  combinations  of  book- 
shelves with  a  desk  can  be  arranged.  A  useful  form  for  a 
small  one  is  shown  in  Fig.  306.  The  height  is  of  course 
regulated  by  the  necessary  position  of  the  desk-lid  when 
dropped.  The  general  principles  of  the  construction  are 
the  same  as  those  of  the  cases  already  shown. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

top,  making  it  as  much  thicker  as  may  be  required,  thus  avoiding  putting  on 
the  moulding  across  the  grain  of  the  piece  to  which  it  is  fastened,  which  is  not 
a  scientific  form  of  construction  ;  and  for  that  matter  it  is  a  more  thoroughly 
workmanlike  way  to  work  all  mouldings  on  the  solid  wood. 

The  top  can  be  made  of  two  thicknesses,  the  moulding  being  worked  on  the 
edge  of  the  under  piece  before  the  two  are  glued  together.  Various  forms  of 
moulding  can  be  worked  on  the  edge  by  a  moulding  machine  at  almost  any 
wood-working  mill. 


Furniture 


199 


The  wing,  or  attachment  at  the  side,  can  be  grooved  into  the 
side  of  the  main  part. 


FIG.  306. 

The  back  should  reach  across  from  one  part  to  the  other,  which 
will  give  stiffness  to  the  whole. 

The  desk-lid,  which  should  be  set  in  perhaps  f  "  from  the  front 
edge  of  the  case,  can  be  prevented  from  dropping  too  far  by 
chains  fastened  inside  to  the  lid  and  the  sides  of  the  case.  Vari- 
ous other  arrangements  can  be  bought  for  holding  a  desk-lid  in 
the  proper  place. 


200          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

The  inside  of  the  lid  must  of  course  be  smooth.  If  panelled 
as  in  Fig.  306  the  panel  must  be  thick  enough  to  be  flush  with 
the  frame  on  the  inside  (see  Doors).  There  will  be  more  or  less 
of  a  crack  around  this  panel,  but  this  is  unavoidable.  Lids  of 
this  sort  are  sometimes  made  with  a  smooth  surface  (without 
frame  or  panelling),  but  this  requires  some  form  of  cleating  to 
prevent  warping  (see  Cleats). 

The  small  brackets  under  the  lower  shelf  will  help  to  stiffen 
the  case. 

A  few  shelves  can  easily  be  arranged  in  the  desk  compartment. 
If  you  wish  a  number  of  pigeon-holes  and  compartments,  a  good 
way  for  the  amateur  to  fit  these  is  to  make  an  independent  case  of 
pigeon-holes  and  compartments,  without  front  or  back,  of  thin 
wood  (perhaps  £-"),  and  of  such  outside  dimensions  that  it  will 
just  slip  into  the  desk-space.  This  open  box-like  arrangement 
can  be  nailed  together  with  fine  brads. 

The  best  way  to  make  it  is  by  fitting  all  the  divisions  into 
grooves,  but  to  do  this  by  hand  requires  more  work  and  care 
than  can  be  expected  of  the  ordinary  amateur.  The  grooving 
can  be  done  by  machine.  A  convenient  arrangement  is  to  have 
rows  of  parallel  grooves  into  which  the  division  boards  can  at  any 
time  be  slipped  to  form  compartments  of  any  desired  size. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Music-Case. — The  construction  of  the  form  shown  in 
Fig.  307  is  like  that  of  the  examples  already  shown.  The 
sides,  top,  and  bottom  should  be  of  f  "  or  %"  stock,  but  the 
shelves  can  be  thinner. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

This  case  can   be   simply   nailed  together  (see  Nailing  and 


Furniture 


20 1 


Nail-set),  but  the  more  workmanlike  way  is  to  groove  the  bottom 
shelf  into  the  sides  and  the  sides  into  the  top,  as  in  the  cases 
already  shown  (see  Grooving). 

A  moulding  at  the  top  can  be 
made  as  in  the  bookcase  shown  in 
Fig.  304. 

For  various  ways  of  putting  in 
the  shelves,  see  Shelves,  in  Part  V. 

The  back  can  be  thinner  (£") 
and  should  be  fitted  in  a  rabbet  cut 
around,  as  already  shown  in  the 
illustrations. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this 
chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and 
finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
San  dp  a  p  e  r,  and  Finishing,  in 

Part  V-  FIG.  307. 


Plant-Stands. — The  form  shown  in  Fig.  308  is  of  quite 
simple  construction  and  is  useful  to  hold  a  large  flower-pot. 
It  should  be  made  of  |-"  stock.     The 
top  can  be  from  8"  to  12"  square. 


Before  beginning  work  read  carefully 
Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane,  in 
Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  refer- 
ences. 

Simply  make  a  box  (see  Box-making, 
page  219),  without  top  and  bottom,  with 
the  grain  of  the  four  sides  running  up 
and  down.  Before  putting  together  saw 

the  curves  at  the  bottom.  As  the  grain  of  the  four  pieces  all  runs 
up  and  down,  these  sides  can  be  glued  together  without  nailing 
(see  Gluing).  Screw  four  cleats  around  the  inside  of  the  top 


202          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


(Fig.  309)  with  holes  bored  in  them  for  screws  with  which  to  fas- 
ten on  the  top  from  underneath  (see  Boring  and  Screws).     Round 

the  top  edge  as  shown  (see  Spoke- 
shave  and  File},  and  smooth  the  sur- 
faces. Then,  having  shaped  the 
edge  of  the  top  as  shown  in  Fig.  308, 
fasten  it  in  place  and  the  stand  is 
ready  to  finish. 

See   end   of   introduction    to    this 
chapter  for  directions  about  smooth- 
ing,   putting    together,    and    finish- 
ing.    See   also    Scraper,   Sandpaper, 
and  Finishing,   in  Part  V. 

The  form  shown  in  Fig.  310  is  made  upon  a  similar  prin- 
ciple, and  can  be  of  a  larger  size  than  would  be  satisfactory 
for  the  first  pattern. 

Much  care  must  be  taken 
to  so  lay  out  and  cut  the 
slanting  edges  of  the  sides 
that  the  pieces  will  come 
together  accurately.  After 
the  top  has  been  fastened 
on,  a  little  piece  of  mould- 
ing can  be  put  around  be- 
neath the  edge  of  the  top  as 
shown,  provided  you  have 
the  skill  to  do  it  neatly.  The 
corners  must  be  mitred,  and 
the  moulding  fastened  on 
with  fine  brads,  which  must  be  set  (see  Nailing  and  Nail-set).1 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

1  See  footnote  on  page  198. 


FIG.  310. 


Furniture 


203 


Tables. — A  plain  table,  which  although  not  especially 
ornamental  is  serviceable  for  many  purposes,  is  shown  in 
Fig.  311.  It  can  be  made  of  any  size  and  proportions  and 
the  details  can  easily  be  varied. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Ride,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 


FIG.  311. 

The  construction  is  too  simple  to  require  special  description. 
The  legs  and  the  cleats  at  the  top  should  be  of  plank  thickness, 
the  rest  of  $"  stock.  The  legs  can  be  halved  where  they  cross 
(see  Halving],  or  for  a  rough  job  can  be  simply  nailed  (see  Nail- 
ing). The  cleats  at  the  top  of  the  legs  should  be  nailed  or  screwed 
to  the  legs,  and  will  act  as  cleats  to  the  top,  which  is  fastened  to 
them.  The  boards  forming  the  top  can  be  simply  laid  with  the 
edges  touching,  for  a  rough  job;  but  where  a.  good  surface  is  re- 
quired the  joints  should  be  glued  (see  Jointing  and  Gluing]  and 
the  surface  smoothed  afterwards. 

Extra  cleats  can  be  put  under  the  top  if  needed  for  stiffness, 
and  additional  lengthways  stretchers  can  be  added  to  connect  the 
upper  part  of  the  legs. 

The  whole  should  be  planed  and  sandpapered  and  can  be 
shellaced  or  painted.  The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from 
those  of  the  subjects  already  shown. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V, 


204          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


A  table  of  simple  construction  and  neat  appearance  (Fig. 
312)  can  be  of  any  desired  size  and  proportions. 


FIG.  312. 


Before  beginning  work 
read  carefully  Marking, 
Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane, 
in  Part  V.,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

The  legs  can  be  from 
i£"  to  2^"  square,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of 
the  table.  After  being 
squared  and  cut  to  a 
length  they  should  be 
tapered  toward  the  bot- 
tom by  planing  down  two 
opposite  sides  and  then 

the  other  two.     The  tapering,  however,  should  not  extend  to  the 

tops  of  the  legs,  but  to  a  point  a  little  below  the  bottom  of  the 

rails,  or  cross-bars,  which  connect  the  legs.     On  the  two  inner 

sides  of  the  legs 

mortises  must  be 

cut   to   receive 

tenons    on    the 

ends  of  the  rails 

which    connect 

the  legs,  as  shown 

in  Fig.  313   (see 

Mortising}. 

These    rails    can 

be   of   |"    stock,  FIG.  313. 

the  curves  on  the  lower  edge  being  cut  with  the  turning-saw  or 

compass    and  keyhole  saw,   and  finished  with  spokeshave  and 

chisel  or  file.     The  curves  can  be  omitted,  of  course,  if  preferred. 
Do  not  try  to  put  this  table  all  together  permanently  at  one 


Furniture 


205 


operation.  First  put  together  two  legs  and  the  connecting  piece, 
then  the  other  two  legs  and  the  connecting  piece,  and  finally 
join  these  two  sides  by  the  remaining  rails.  Glue  the  joints 
(see  Gluing)  and  the  parts  should  be  securely  clamped  (see 
Clamps)  until  dry.  Corner-blocks  can  be  put  in  at  the  angles 
(see  Corner-blocks). 

Holes  must  be  bored  in  the  rails  by  which  to  fasten  the  top. 
If  the  rails  are  not  too  deep,  vertical  holes 
can  be  bored,  countersinking  deeply  if  neces- 
sary. Deep  countersinking  can  be  done  by 
first  boring  a  hole  large  enough  to  admit  the 
head  of  the  screw  to  the  depth  required,  when 
the  hole  can  be  continued  with  a  smaller  bit. 
If  the  depth  of  the  rail  is  too  great  for  this 
process,  the  hole  can  be  made  by  a  species  of 
counterboring,  making  first  a  larger  hole  in 
the  side  of  the  rail  (on  the  inside),  an  inch  or 
so  from  the  top,  and  boring  down  into  this 
hole  from  the  top.  A  slanting  cut  can  be 
made  from  below  with  the  gouge  to  allow  the  screw  to  be  slipped 
into  the  hole  (Fig.  314).  Another  way  is  to  screw  cleats  on  the 
inside  of  the  rail  with  a  vertical  hole  through  which  the 
top  can  be  screwed  on  (Fig.  315). 

The  top,  if  too  wide  for  one  board,  should  be  glued 
up  before  being  dressed  off  (see  Jointing  and  Gluing), 
and  the  edge  shaped  and  smoothed.  Then,  laying  the 
top  face  downward  on  the  horses  or  bench,  place  the 
frame  upside  dow.n  upon  the  top.  When  in  the  exact 
position  mark  a  line  around  the  inside  of  the  frame, 
continue  the  holes  in  the  frame  a  little  way  into  the  top, 
using  a  bit  a  trifle  smaller  than  the  screws,  and  then  screw 
the  frame  securely  to  the  top  (see  Boring  and  Screws),  measuring 
carefully  to  see  that  you  use  screws  which  will  not  protrude 
through  the  top  of  the  table.  Depend  entirely  on  the  screws  to 
hold  the  top  on.  Do  not  fasten  a  table-top  on  with  glue  (see 


FIG.  314. 


FIG.  315. 


206          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


Laying  out  the  work,  in  Chapter  IV.).  If  the  table  does  not 
stand  even,  see  Scribing  and  Winding-sticks.  The  final  scraping 
(see  Scraper]  of  the  top  can  well  be  left  until  the  table  is  put 
together,  when  the  whole,  after  being  scraped,  can  be  carefully 
sandpapered  with  fine  sandpaper  (see  Sandpaper]. 

The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  articles 
already  shown. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Finishing, 
in  Part  V. 

An  excellent  centre-table  for  the  amateur  to  make  (Fig. 
316)  is  useful  for  many  purposes.  About  three  feet  square 

on  top  is  a  convenient 
size. 

Before  beginning  work 
read  carefully  Marking, 
Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane, 
in  Part  V.  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

Get  out  four  legs,  from 
i£"  to  2"  in  diameter,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of 
the  table.  They  can  be 
tapered  slightly,  as  in  the 
preceding  case.  Groove  one  side  of  each  leg  to  receive  the  end 
of  the  cross-partition  shown  in  the  cut  (see  Grooving].  These 
partitions  can  be  £"  to  f "  thick.  One  of  them  can  extend  across 
(diagonally)  from  post  to  post.  The  other  can  be  in  two  parts, 
reaching  to  the  centre;  or  the  partitions  can  be  in  four  parts, 
meeting  in  the  centre.  This  framework  of  legs  and  cross-par- 
titions can  be  bound  together  at  the  top  by  cleats  screwed  on  top 
(Fig.  317),  holes  being  made  in  the  cleats  by  which  they  can  in 
turn  be  screwed  to  the  top  of  the  table.  The  lower  shelf,  or 


FIG.  316. 


Furniture 


207 


shelves  (being  made  in  four  parts),  can  be  fastened  up  from 
underneath,  cleats,  also,  being  used  if  necessary.  The  shelves 
can  be  of  •£"  stock.  The  upper  shelves  can  be  fitted  after  the 
rest  is  put  together  and  can  rest  upon  cleats  underneath,  to  which 
they  can  be  fastened.  The  shape 
of  the  top  is  shown  in  Fig.  31  ?a. 


FIG.  317. 


FIG. 


The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those  in  the  preceding 
cases. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Small  Stand. — A  simple  ar- 
rangement shown  in  Fig.  318 
involves  more  difficulties  than 
many  of  the  other  articles 
shown,  but  is  not  beyond  the 
skill  of  the  careful  amateur. 
A  good  size  is  about  13"  or  14" 
across  the  top  and  17"  or  18" 
high.  Such  a  stand  is  useful 
to  hold  a  flower-pot.  pIG_  3Ig. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.  and  look  up  any  other  references. 


208          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  319. 


The  top  can  be  of  \"  or  f"  stock  and  the  legs  of  -J"  stock,  the 
lower  part  tapering  in  thickness  to  -|"  at  the  bottom.  The  curves 
can  all  be  sawed  at  a  mill  for  a  small  sum,  and 
smoothed  with  spokeshave  and  file  (see  Spoke- 
shave  and  File).  The  underside  of  the  top  can 
be  bevelled  at  the  edge  (Fig.  319).  This  can 
be  done  with  the  spokeshave.  The  file  can  be  used  to  good  ad- 
vantage in  the  rounding  of  the  extreme  edge,  finishing  with  sand- 
paper, but  not  until  after  the  top  surface  has  been  finally  smoothed 
(see  Spokeshave,  File,  and  Sandpaper). 

The  curved  frame  under  the  top  and  connecting  the  legs  is  to 
be  made  in  four  pieces,  the  legs  being  fitted  between  them  (Fig. 
320).  These  curved  pieces  should 
be  got  out  a  little  too  long  and  the 
ends  carefully  sawed  to  make  a  tight 
joint  with  the  legs.  Be  sure  that  all 
these  parts  fit  accurately  before  you 
finally  put  them  together.  Screw 
them  together,  toeing  screws  into 
the  legs.  Use  glue  at  the  joints  of 
the  curved  frame  and  the  legs,  but 
do  not  glue  the  frame  to  the  top. 

The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those  in  the  preceding 
cases. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Small  Table. — Fig.  321  shows  a  good  form  for  a  small 
stand  suitable  for  various  purposes,  which,  although  not  as 
easy  to  make  as  it  looks,  is  not  too  hard  for  the  amateur 
who  has  acquired  some  familiarity  with  his  tools.  It  can 
be  made  of  any  desired  height  or  proportions. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 


FIG.  320. 


Furniture 


209 


Get  out  the  top  as  in  the  small  stand  last  shown.  The  thick- 
ness can  vary  from  £"  to  £"  according  to  the  size  of  the  table. 
The  legs  should  not  be  fastened  directly  to  the  top,  but  to  a  cleat 


FIG.  321.  FIG.  322. 

framework  to  be  screwed  to  the  top  (Fig.  322).  This  helps  pre- 
vent the  top  from  warping.  The  legs  can  be  round  or  six-sided 
and  should  be  tapered  (see  Rounding -sticks}.  A  tenon  or  dowel 
should  be  made  at  the  upper  end  of  each  leg  to  fit  into  a  hole  in 
the  cleat  framework. 

The  hexagonal  shelf  at  the  bottom  can 
be  of  £"  stock  and  should  be  notched  or 
grooved  into  the  legs,  the  extreme  angles 
of  the  shelf  being  cut  off  (Fig.  323).  A 
fine  screw  toed  from  underneath  through 
the  shelf  into  the  leg  (Fig.  324)  will 
strengthen  the  joint,  and  after  the  whole 
FIG.  323.  is  fastened  together,  little  brackets  can  be 

screwed  with  fine  screws  in  the  angle  between  the  lower  shelf  and 
the  leg.  All  the  joints  should  be  glued  except 
where  the  cleats  are  fastened  to  the  top,  in  which 
case  screws  alone  should  be  used.  Much  care  is 
required  to  make  all  these  joints  accurately,  and 
to  put  the  whole  table  together  properly. 

The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those 
in  the  preceding  cases. 


FIG.  324. 


See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
14 


210          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


smoothing,   putting  together,   and  finishing.     See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Footstool  or  Cricket. — A  common  low  seat  or  cricket 
(Fig.  325)  can  be  made  of  -|"  or  %"  stock  and  of  any  desired 
size. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 

Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look 
up  any  other  references. 

The  hardest  part  of  this  job  is 
to  cut  the  bevels  where  the  sides 
meet  the  top  and  at  the  ends  of 
the  stretcher  between  the  sides 
(see  Bevelling}.  You  will  prob- 


FIG.  325. 


ably  find  it  easier  to  lay  out  and  cut  the  ends  of  the  sides  before 
they  are  tapered.     The  edges  of  the  top  can  be  slightly  rounded. 

After  the  parts  are  nailed  together  (see  Nailing}  set  the  nails 
(see  Nail-set).  The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those 
of  the  cases  already  described. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Out-Door  Seat. — The  construction 
of  the  plain  chair  shown  in  Fig.  326 
is  too  obvious  to  require  special  de- 
scription. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully 
Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane,  in 
Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

This  seat  can  be  made  of  thin  plank. 
The  most  difficult  part  is  the  bevelling  of 
the  joints  (see  Bevelling). 

The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those  in  the  preced- 
ing cases.  For  the  painting  see  Painting,  in  Part  V. 


Furniture 


211 


Bookcase  and  Lounge. — "  Combination  "  articles  of 
furniture  are,  as  a  rule,  frequently  undesirable  on  the  ground 
of  taste,  and  often  are  not  as  convenient  as  to  have  the  parts 
made  separately.  But  the  amateur  may  sometimes  find  it 
desirable  to  join  two  or  more  different  pieces  to  fit  some 
particular  spot  or  for  some  special  reason.  Examples  are 
given  in  the  bookcase  and  desk  (Fig.  306),  in  the  combina- 


FIG.  327. 

tion  for  a  corner  (Fig.  328),  and  in  Fig.  327.  These  are 
given  as  suggestive  of  the  kind  of  combinations  that  can  be 
suitably  undertaken  by  the  amateur,  and  many  simple  ar- 
rangements can  readily  be  contrived  when  desired. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  new  principles  involved  in  this  design  are  merely  in  the 
combination.  The  bookcase  and  the  cupboard  (which  can  be 
open  if  desired)  are  similar  to  those  already  shown,  and  the 
lounge  is  simply  a  shelf  or  box-like  arrangement  connecting  the 
two.  The  back  of  the  lounge  is  merely  a  board  fastened  by 
screws.  The  appearance  of  the  article  depends  much  upon  the 


212          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

upholstering.  This  should  not  be  done  until  after  the  finishing 
of  the  woodwork. 

The  remaining  details  are  not  different  from  those  of  the 
articles  already  shown. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 


FIG.  328. 

Another  combination,  suitable  for  a  corner,  is  shown  in 
Fig.  328.  The  principles  involved  are  the  same  as  for  the 
other  articles  already  described  and  the  construction  is 
obvious. 

Table  and  Settle,  or  Chair-Table. — This  is  an  excel- 
lent form  of  table  for  the  amateur  to  make  and  is  useful  for 
many  purposes  (Figs.  329  and  330).  If  of  moderate  size,  it 
can  be  made  of  %"  stock,  but  if  large,  and  to  be  subjected 
to  rough  usage,  thin  plank  will  be  more  suitable  for  the 
ends  and  top.  Another  good  form  of  chair-table  can  be 
made  on  the  same  principle  by  making  a  narrower  seat,  or 
a  heavy-chair,  and  attaching  a  circular  top  by  hinges  to  the 
back  of  the  arms  of  the  seat. 


Furniture 


213 


Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

The  framing  of  the  lower  part  is  similar  to  that  of  a  box.  Get 
out  the  upright  ends  and  the  front  and  back  of  the  box  part  and 
fit  them  together  as  shown  in  Fig.  331,  a  rabbet  (see  Rabbet) 
or  groove  being  cut  to  receive  the  bottom.  The  lid,  which  forms 


FIG.  329. 

the  seat,  can  be  arranged  as  shown  (see  Hinges].  The  top,  made 
like  any  table- top  and  fastened  by  screws  to  the  deep  cleats 
shown  (see  Screws],  is  pivoted  to  either  side  of  the  upright  ends 
by  pins  when  a  seat  is  desired.  When  you  wish  to  use  the  table 
and  the  top  is  lowered,  it  can  be  held  in  place  by  inserting  pins  in 
the  other  two  holes  also.  The  pins  should  not  be  less  than  £"  or 
f "  in  diameter.  Care  must  be  used  in  laying  off  the  points  for 
making  these  holes  (see  £oring\ 


214          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  330. 


The  remaining  de- 
tails are  not  different 
from  those  of  the 
articles  already 
shown. 

See  end  of  intro- 
duction to  this  chap- 
ter for  directions 
about  smoothing, 
putting  together,  and 
finishing.  See  also 
Scraper,  Sandpaper, 
and  Finishing,  \  n 
Part  V. 


FIG.  331. 


Furniture 


215 


Cabinet  for  Guns,  Fishing-Rods,  Etc. — A  convenient 
form  is  shown  in  Fig.  332.  The  construction  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  bookcases  and  cabinets  already  shown.  The 
stock  for  the  case  itself  can  be  -|"  in  thickness,  for  the  larger 
divisions  £",  and  for  the  small  partitions  £". 


FIG.  332. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

If  you  make  the  doors  with  glass  panels,  as  shown,  these  can 
be  set  in  rabbets  cut  on  the  inside  of  the  door  frames  and  held 
in  place  by  strips  of  "  quarter-round  "  moulding.  The  doors 
can  be  fitted  between  the  sides  or  can  lap  over  the  edges  of  the 
sides,  as  you  prefer  (see  Doors).  The  drawers  can  be  omitted  if 
too  difficult  to  make  well  (see  Drawers},  and  small  boxes  of 
various  sizes  stored  upon  the  shelves  can  be  used  as  a  substitute. 


216  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


The  remaining  details  are  not  different  from  those  of  the 
articles  already  shown. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Scraper, 
Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Picture  Frames. — These  are  often  undertaken  by  the 
amateur,  but  making  them  well  is  much  more  difficult  than 
it  seems  to  the  beginner. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

If  you  buy  the  prepared  mouldings  so  much  in  use,  they  will, 
in  most  cases,  have  to  be  mitred  at  the  corners,  which  is  an 

operation  by  no  means  easy  for  the  be- 
ginner, particularly  when  the  moulding 
is  sprung  or  twisted,  as  is  often  the 
case.  Those  joints  which  do  not  close 
properly  must  be  trimmed  with  the 
plane,  for  which  purpose  the  mitre 
shooting-board  is  useful  (see  page  94), 
and  all  four  joints  should  fit  accur- 
ately before  finally  putting  together, 
FlG-  333-  so  that  none  will  have  to  be  sprung  or 

twisted  in  order  to  close  up.  At  the  same  time  you  must  guard 
against  winding  by  sighting  across  the  face,  and  the  angles  must 
be  tested  with  the  square.  The  clamping  together  is  important  in 
such  work.  This  can  be  done  by  laying  the  frame  flat,  nailing 
strips  a  short  distance  outside  of  each  of  the  four  corners,  and 
driving  in  wedges  between  these  strips  and  the  frame  until  the 
joints  are  firmly  held  (Fig.  333).  This  can  also  be  done  by 
putting  blocks  at  the  corners  and  passing  a  doubled  cord  around, 
which,  by  inserting  a  stick,  can  be  twisted  until  the  frame  is  held 
tightly.  But  making  mitred  frames  of  moulding  is  not  suitable 
work  for  the  beginner  and  should  be  deferred  until  you  have  had 
some  experience  (see  Mitring}. 


Furniture 


217 


For  a  plain  frame  nothing  is  better  than  a  joint  with  mortise 
and  tenon  (Fig.  334),  the  rabbet  (see  Rabbet)  at  the  back  being 
cut  through  to  the  ends  of  the  shorter  pieces  (those  having  the 
tenons),  but  being  stopped  be- 
fore reaching  the  ends  of  the 
longer  pieces  (those  having  the 
mortises),  as  shown.  The  lat- 
ter should  be  got  out  too  long, 
so  as  to  overlap  a  little  at  the 
ends  (Fig.  334).  This  enables 
you  to  take  the  frame  apart 
more  readily  when  fitting,  and 
with  less  danger  of  injury  to 
the  work.  The  projecting  ends 
can  be  sawed  off  after  the 
frame  has  been  glued  together 
(see  Mortising,  Gluing,  and 
Clamps).  The  final  planing 
and  smoothing  of  the  front 
surface  and  the  edges  should 
be  done  after  the  frame  is 
glued  together,  careful  at- 
tention being  paid  to  the  di-  IG<  334' 
rection  of  the  grain  (see  Plane,  Scraper,  and  Sandpaper). 

After  a  frame  of  this  kind  is  all  done,  an  inner  moulding  with 
a  row  of  beads,  or  some  other  simple  form,  can  easily  be  fitted  to 
the  rabbet,  if  desired. 

See  end  of  introduction  to  this  chapter  for  directions  about 
smoothing,  putting  together,  and  finishing.  See  also  Finishing, 
in  Part  V, 


CHAPTER   XI 

A   FEW    MISCELLANEOUS   OPERATIONS 

Wooden  Chain. — White  pine  or  any  other  easily  whit- 
tled, straight-grained  wood  can  be  used.     Take  a  stick  of 


FIG.  335. 


FIG.  336. 


FIG.  337. 


any  length  and  from   i"  to  2"  square.     If  very  small  the 
whittling  is  more  difficult. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Knife, 
in  Part  V. 

Mark  as  shown  (Fig.  335),  and  remove 
the  wood  at  the  corners,  forming  four  rab- 
bets, giving  a  section  of  the  piece  the 
shape  of  a  Greek  cross  (Fig.  336).  Next 
lay  out  the  links,  alternating  as  shown  in 
Fig.  337,  and  allowing  space  enough  so  that 
they  can  have  some  play  when  cut.  By 
notching  in  from  the  outside  and  finally 
cutting  away  the  wood  within  the  links, 

they  can  be  separated.     The  whittling  must  be  done  carefully,  of 

218 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations        219 


course,  and  wholly  by  cutting  with  a  sharp  knife.  If  you  try  to 
do  it  by  prying  or  twisting  with  the  blade,  you  will  be  likely  to  split 
the  wood.  Finally,  round  and  smooth  the  links  (Fig.  338),  doing 
as  much  of  this  as  you  can  before  the  links  are  separated.  Use 
fine  sandpaper  (see  Sandpaper}.  Leave  the  chain  in  the  natural 
wood  or  oil  and  shellac  (see  Finishing). 

Ball  and  Block. — White  pine  or  any  other  easily  whittled, 
straight-grained  wood  will  do  for  this  whittling  exercise 
(Fig-  339)- 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Knife, 
in  Part  V. 

First  get  out  a  cubical  block,  each  edge  of  which  may 
be,  perhaps,  i^"  or  2"  long.  Gauge  a  line  around  each  side 
parallel  to  the  edge  and  about  £"  from  it  (see  Gauge}.  Cut 
straight  in  on  these  lines  and  then  make  slanting 
cuts  to  meet  those  first  made.  Remove  the  wood 
on  the  same  general  principle  as  in  cutting  a  notch, 
gradually  shaping  the  middle  part  into  spherical 
form;  while  the  cuts  which  are  parallel  with  the 
sides  finally  meet  and  form  four  posts  between  the 
top  and  bottom.  The  wood  must  be  removed  by 
cuts,  not  by  prying.  Trim  the  ball  to  be  as  nearly 
spherical  as  you  can.  If  you  wish  to  make  the 
ring  or  handle  shown  on  top,  additional  length 
must  be  allowed  in  getting  out  the  original  block.  The  whole 
can  be  sandpapered  with  fine  sandpaper  (see  Sandpaper}  and 
finished  with  oil  or  shellac  (see  Finishing}. 

Box-making. — In  laying  out  common  boxes,  bear  in 
mind  that  the  sides,  top,  and  bottom  usually  lap  over  the 
ends, — the  sides  over  the  ends,  and  the  top  and  bottom 
over  the  sides  and  ends  (Fig.  340).  Sometimes,  however, 
to  avoid  joints  showing  on  the  front,  the  front  and  back  are 


FIG.  339. 


220          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

made  to  lap  over  the  top  (Fig.  341),  occasionally  the  ends 
lap  over  the  back  (Fig.  342),  and  other  arrangements  are 


KIG.  340. 


FIG.  341. 


sometimes  made.     Do  not  rely  on  glue  for  these  common 
square  joints  in  box-work,  but  place  your  dependence  on 

nails  or  screws. 

Either  lid  or  bottom  or  both  can 

sometimes  project  slightly  to  good 


FIG.  342. 


FIG.  343. 


advantage  (Fig.  343).  In  nice  work,  however,  the  bottom 
is  more  often  set  in  so  as  not  to  show,  either  simply  fitting 
in  between  the  sides  and  ends  or  into  a  rabbet  (see  Rabbet) 
cut  in  the  lower  edge  (Fig.  344,  showing  box  bottom  up). 
The  lid  or  cover  can  be  hinged  to  the  top  edge  of  the  back 
of  the  box,  or  a  narrower  lid  can  be  used  and  hinged  to  a  strip 
fastened  at  the  back  of  the  box  (Fig.  345).  Plain  lids  of  this 
sort,  for  everything  but  rough  or  temporary  work,  should 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations       221 

be  cleated,  either  by  end  cleats,  by  framing,  or  simply  by 
cleats  on  the  under  side  (see  Cleats  and  Doors]. 


FIG.  344.  FIG.  345. 

Remember  that  the  joints  will  be  held  more  tightly  (for  a 
permanent  box)  if  you  "  toe  "  the  nails  (see  Nailing]. 

Mitring  is  a  common  way  of  making  box-joints.  It  is, 
however,  one  of  the  poorest  of  all  ways  in  point  of  strength, 
and  unless  done  with  much  skill, — more  skill  than  the  aver- 
age amateur  usually  acquires, — the  joints  are  very  liable  to 
come  apart,  or  at  least  gape  open,  and  be  weaker  and  look 
worse  than  the  common,  squarely  fitted  joint  first  shown. 

Glue  can  be  used  and  is  a  help.  Mitred  joints  can,  however, 
be  strengthened  by  splines  or  keys  or  pieces  let  into  saw-kerfs 
(see  Mitring). 

A  mitred  box  is  hard  for  an  amateur  to  put  together,  particu- 
larly when  it  is  to  be  glued.  The  whole  process  should  be  re- 
hearsed before  gluing.  Everything  must  fit  exactly  before  you 
begin  to  finally  put  the  box  together.  If  you  get  one  corner  out 
of  place,  all  four  will  probably  be  thrown  out  of  position  before 
you  get  through  puttering  with  them,  and  the  glue  become  cold 
and  the  operation  be  spoiled.  Only  a  skilful  amateur  can  make 
a  box  with  nicely  fitted  mitred  joints  that  will  hold  permanently. 

There  are  various  other  ways  of  making  joints  by  machine 
(see  Joints].  The  rabbeted  joint  shown  in  Fig.  346  can  be 


222          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  346. 


made  by  hand  very  well,  but  so  much  quicker  with  a  circu- 
lar saw  that  you  will  save  much  time  by  having  it  done  at  a 
mill.  It  is  a  good,  strong,  neat  joint  and  shows  less  wood 
at  the  end  than  the  common  way.  When  it  is  allowable  to 
round  what  little  end  wood  there  is  (Fig. 
345)  it  makes  the  joint  quite  inconspic- 
uous. Glue  can  also  be  used  to  advant- 
age with  this  joint  on  account  of  the 
shoulder. 

Dowelling  the  corners  is  a  method 
sometimes  used.  It  is  easier  than  mit- 
ring, but  by  no  means  a  strong  joint, 
unless  skilfully  made.  The  principal  ad- 
vantage of  dowelling  is  in  cases  where  it 
is  objectionable  to  have  nails  show.  But, 
as  a  rule,  there  is  not  much  gain  in  trying  to  conceal  joints. 
Certainly  not  unless  you  can  do  the  work  in  the  best  of  style. 
Learn  first  to  make  the  common,  plain  joints  accurately, 
and  you  can  then  attempt  the  more  difficult  ones  with  some 
chance  of  success.  The  joints  can  sometimes  be  reinforced 
to  good  advantage  by  triangular  corner-pieces  or  posts, 
glued  and  screwed  in  place. 

There  is  no  better  or  more  workmanlike  way  of  putting 
boxes  together  than  by  some  form  of  dovetailing  (see  Dove- 
tailing), but  this  process  is  hardly  one  for  the  beginner  to 
undertake,  and  should  be  postponed  until  he  has  acquired 
considerable  skill,  for,  though  the  principle  of  laying  out 
and  cutting  dovetails  is  easy  to  understand,  much  exactness 
is  required  in  the  execution. 

Where  the  box  does  not  open  at  the  top  but  lower  down, 
as  in  Fig.  347,  the  best  way  is  not  to  make  the  two  parts 
separately,  but  simply  to  put  together  a  tight  box  and  then 
saw  it  apart  wherever  you  wish  to  have  it  open. 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations        223 

Be  careful  to  gauge  accurately  the  line  by  which  to  saw  it  open 
(see  Gauge},  and  not  to  drive  any  nails  too  near  this  line.  Any 
which  you  omit  can  easily  be  added  after  the  sawing.  Saw  the 
box  open  very  carefully  on  the  line.  Smooth  the  edges  after  the 
saw,  but  take  pains  not  to  plane  away  the  wood  too  hastily,  for  a 
very  little  carelessness  will  spoil  the  joint  and  necessitate  a  general 
truing  of  the  edges. 


FIG.  348. 


A  good  form  for  a  plain  chest  is  shown  in  Fig.  348.  The 
construction  is  the  same  as  in  the  other  cases.  The  bottom 
can  be  fitted  to  a  groove  cut  around  on  the  inside  and  can 
be  inserted  when  the  box  is  put  together,  or  for  a  rougher 
job  can  be  simply  nailed  in  place. 

A  simple  form  of  tool-chest  is  shown  in  Fig.  349.  This 
can  be  made  of  any  size  desired  and  of  any  wood.  It  is 
usually  as  well  to  make  a  good-sized  chest,  for  the  cost  is 
but  little  more  than  to  make  a  small  one.  Hard  wood 
will  be  much  more  durable  than  soft.  Stock  from  f"  to  |-" 
in  thickness  will  be  suitable. 

Unless  you  have  had  considerable  experience  you  had  best  be 
content  with  the  simpler  joints  rather  than  to  attempt  dovetailing 
the  corners,  as  shown  in  the  cut.  It  is  not  necessary  to  cut  a 
rabbet  for  the  bottom,  because  of  the  base-board  or  moulding 
which  is  to  be  nailed  around  the  bottom,  and  the  latter  can  be 
nailed  or  screwed  directly  to  the  edge,  before  the  moulding  is  put 
around.  The  rest  of  the  construction  of  the  chest  is  obvious  and 


224          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

like  the  cases  already  shown.  If  the  moulding  around  the  lid  is 
to  be  arranged  as  shown,  it  will  be  best  to  fit  the  lock  first,  as  it 
will  be  easier  to  attach  the  hasp  of  the  lock  before  the  moulding 
has  been  added  (see  Locks  and  Hinges). 

At  about  two  or  three  inches  from  the  top,  fasten  a  ledge  on  the 
inside  of  the  front  and  back.     This  can  be  about  \"  thick  by  \" 


FIG.  349. 

deep  and  is  for  the  sliding-tray,  shown  in  the  cut,  to  rest  upon. 
This  tray  can  be  of  soft  wood,  from  ±"  to  f "  in  thickness,  and  can 
be  divided  as  you  wish.  It  will  often  be  advantageous  to  arrange 
the  lid  and  the  top  tray  so  that  tools  can  be  fastened  on  the  inside 
of  the  lid.  Saws  and  various  flat  tools  are  often  thus  disposed  of, 
being  held  in  place  by  straps,  blocks,  and  buttons.  You  can  also 
arrange  a  rack  around  the  inside  of  your  chest  for  such  tools  as 
chisels,  gouges,  etc.  When  kept  in  trays,  such  tools  should  be 
separated  by  divisions.  The  various  details  of  making  such  a 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations       225 

chest  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  articles  just  described  in  the 
preceding  chapter  on  Furniture. 

In  nailing  together  rough  boxes  for  packing  or  some  tem- 
porary purpose,  you  do  not  need  to  devote  much  thought 
to  the  arrangement  of  the  pieces  with  reference  to  the  direc- 
tion of  the  grain,  so  long  as  you  put  them  together  in  a  way 
that  your  common-sense  tells  you  will  be  strong.  Examina- 
tion of  a  few  packing-cases  will  show  you  all  you  need  to 
know  for  such  work.  But  when  you  make  a  better  grade 
of  box,  to  be  glued,  regard  must  be  paid  to  the  direction  of 
the  grain  and  the  matter  of  expansion  and  contraction.  In 
the  majority  of  boxes  and  chests  the  grain  of  the  sides  and 
ends  should  run  in  the  same  way — horizontally  or  around 
the  box,  as  shown  in  the  illustrations. 

This  gives  a  strong  edge  all  around  at  the  top  of  the  box  and 
permits  the  use  of  glue  (with  some  joints)  where  the  sides  and 
ends  meet,  as  the  parts  glued  will  thus  naturally  tend  to  expand 
and  contract  alike.  When  the  grain  goes  in  opposite  directions 
(/.  e. ,  at  right  angles),  such  joints,  unless  short,  should  not  be 
glued.  Where  the  top  board  is  fastened  to  the  sides  and  ends  of 
the  box,  as  in  Fig.  347,  it  should  not  be  glued,  except  in  the  case 
of  a  small  box,  and  the  grain  should  run  lengthways,  so  that 
there  will  be  as  little  change  as  possible  due  to  the  expansion  and 
contraction  (see  Chapter  IV.  on  Laying  Out  the  Work,  and  Ap- 
pendix). 

When  several  boards  are  required  to  cover  the  top  or  bottom 
of  a  box,  if  you  wish  to  have  as  few  cracks  as  possible  and  to 
avoid  the  swelling  and  shrinking  across  the  grain  as  much  as  you 
can,  lay  the  boards  lengthways  of  the  box,  but  if  you  merely  wish 
for  strength,  lay  them  crossways. 

Care  must  be  taken  about  testing  the  angles  with  the 
square,  and  guarding  against  winding  (see  Winding-sticks),  in 


226          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


making  nice  boxes,  as  with  all  framed  work.  If  the  bottom 
and  top  are  got  out  accurately  they  will,  of  course,  assist  in 
the  matter  of  getting  the  box  square,  and  for  common  work 
carefully  fitting  the  bottom  (or  bottom  and  top)  in  place 
will  be  all  the  "  squaring  "  required.  In  nice  work  where 
the  joints  are  glued,  waste  pieces  should  be  placed  over  the 
joints  (across  the  grain  of  the  sides)  before  applying  the 
clamps,  not  merely  to  prevent  the  work  being  marred  by 
the  clamps,  but  also  to  distribute  the  pressure  and  ensure 
as  close  a  joint  as  possible  (see  Clamps). 

The  final  smoothing  of  the  outside  of  a  box  should  be 
done  after  it  is  permanently  put  together,  allowing  plenty 
of  time,  if  glue  is  used  in  the  joints,  for  it  to  dry  before 
dressing  off  the  surfaces.  The  inside  must,  of  course,  be 
smoothed  before  putting  together. 

The  variety  of  forms  in  which  boxes  are  made  is  too  great 
for  all  to  be  specified,  but  the  same  general  principles  apply 

to  nearly  all  forms  of 
box-work.  In  the  case 
of  chests  or  large  boxes, 


you  will  often  see  them 
with  the  sides  and  ends 
panelled,  but  this  is 
rather  an  elaborate  form 
for  the  beginner  to  at- 

had     best    be    avoided    by    the    inexperienced 
which  is  not  too  hard  for  the  amateur  is 


FIG.  350. 


tempt    and 

worker.     A  form 

shown,  however,  in  Fig.  350,  the  sides  and  ends  being  fitted 

to  grooves  or  rabbets  cut  in  posts  at  each  corner. 

The  work  of  getting  out  the  stock  for  boxes  and  making 
the  joints  can  be  done  so  quickly  and  accurately  (and  usually 
cheaply)  by  a  circular  saw  or  other  machine  that  much  time 
is  saved,  when  making  nice  boxes,  by  having  the  parts  sawed 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations        227 

at  a  mill.  The  remarks  made  at  the  end  of  the  introduction 
to  Chapter  X.  (on  Furniture),  in  regard  to  getting  out  your 
work,  putting  together,  smoothing,  and  finishing,  apply 
equally  to  making  the  better  class  of  boxes  and  chests,  and 
the  general  details  of  the  work  do  not  differ  from  those  of 
the  articles  shown  in  that  chapter.  See,  also,  Marking,  Rule, 
Square,  Saw,  Plane,  Nailing',  Nail-set,  Screws,  Hinges,  Locks, 
Scraper,  Sandpaper,  and  Finishing,  in  Part  V. 

Toy  Boats. — A  few  suggestions  about  the  woodwork  of 
the  hulls  of  toy  boats  may  be  useful  to  the  beginner.  The 
details  of  rigging  and  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  various 
types  and  designs  are  matters  which  do  not  come  within  the 
scope  of  this  book,  and  you  can  easily  find  information  upon 
these  points. 

Making  your  boats  yourself  is  half  the  fun,  of  course, 
and  capital  practice  with  tools  as  well  as  a  valuable  intro- 
duction to  the  building  of  model  yachts,  which  you  may 
undertake  later,  and  to  the  general  subject  of  boat-building 
and  sailing.  Making  different  types  and  sailing  them  is 
both  interesting  and  instructive. 

You  will  quite  often  see  little  boats  fitted  up  as  exact 
copies  in  miniature  of  real  vessels,  with  all  the  complexity 
of  fittings,  rigging,  and  minor  details  found  in  the  larger 
boats.  These  models  are  often  interesting  specimens  of 
skill, — as  pieces  of  handiwork, — but  the  time  can  usually 
be  spent  to  better  advantage  in  some  other  way.  If  you 
wish  actually  to  sail  your  boats,  leave  out  everything  which 
is  not  essential  to  successful  sailing. 

Very  little  skill,  and  no  instruction,  is  required  to  make 
the  simpler  forms  of  toy  boats  familiar  to  the  small  boy  who 
lives  near  the  water.  Almost  any  scrap  of  shingle  or  piece 
of  wood  upon  which  a  little  mast  can  be  raised  will  sail, 


228          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

as  the  small  boy  well  knows.  The  difficulties  begin  when 
something  more  like  a  boat  is  attempted,  and  the  first  and 
greatest  of  all  difficulties  is  that  of  the  design,  as  you  will 
discover  later  if  you  attempt  scientific  model  yacht-building. 
But  advanced  model  yacht-work  requires  much  skill — more 
than  can  be  expected  of  a  beginner.  At  first,  in  beginning  to 
make  toy  boats,  copy  any  successful  boat  as  nearly  as  you  can. 
After  you  get  beyond  making  boats  of  shingles  and  scraps 

of  board,  you  may  very 
likely  make  something  like 
Fig.  35 1 , which  is  too  simple 
to  require  special  descrip- 
tion; but  when  you  begin 
to  build  regular  boats  you 
will  find  enough  to  tax  your 
wood-working  skill  to  t  h  e 
FlG-  35i.  utmost.  You  had  best  be- 

gin with  simple  forms  and  not  make  your  first  attempts 
too  large. 

One  way  of  making  the  hull  (as  of  course  you  know)  is  to 
cut  it  from  a  solid  block  of  wood  of  the 
required  size.     Another  way  is  to  build 
it  up  of  layers  of  board  laid  on  one  an- 
other horizontally  (Fig.  352).'  FIG.  352. 

1  Still  another  way  sometimes  used  for  model  yachts  is  to  build  the  hull 
much  in  the  same  way  that  a  real  vessel  is  built — making  a  framework  or 
skeleton  and  covering  it  with  little  planks,  but  this  method  (though  a  good 
one  in  some  respects)  requires  more  skill  than  can  be  expected  of  the  average 
amateur,  and  this  mode  of  construction  should  not  be  attempted  until  you  become 
a  skilful  workman  and  accomplished  in  the  building  of  regular  model  yachts. 

If  your  boat  is  quite  small  it  will  probably  be  easier  and  better  in  most  cases 
to  cut  the  hull  from  a  solid  block  ;  but  if  much  more  than  two  feet  in  length  it 
is  usually  better  to  build  it  in  layers. 

Either  of  these  methods  can  be  used  in  any  case,  but  for  a  small  boat  the 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations        229 

The  greatest  care  must  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  the 
wood.  It  should  be  free  from  knots,  checks,  and  bad  grain, 
and  above  all  things  must  be  thoroughly  seasoned.  No- 
thing is  better  than  the  best  quality  of  clear  white  pine. 
Mahogany  is  excellent,  but  is  more  costly  and  harder  to 
work. 

Take  a  simple  model  of  the  fin-keel  type  (Fig.  353).     First  you 


FIG.  353- 

must  have  the  design  or  drawing  giving  the 
different  plans  or  views.     If  the  drawing  is 
smaller  than  the  actual  size  you  wish  to  make 
the  boat,  it  must,  of  course,  be  enlarged  and  a  full-sized  work- 
ing drawing  made.1 

building  in  layers  is  more  difficult,  while  for  a  large  one  it  is  hard  to  find  a 
block  that  will  be  sufficiently  free  from  defects. 

1  In  making  the  plans  for  a  boat,  three  views  are  usually  drawn,  known  as 
the  sheer  plan,  the  body  plan,  and  the  half-breadth  plan.  These  correspond 
to  the  "front  or  side  elevation,"  "end  elevation,"  and  "plan"  in  ordinary 
drawings,  and  give  side,  end,  and  top  views  of  the  boat, — or  of  one-half  of  it, 
which  is  all  that  is  needed,  as  the  sides  are  of  course  alike.  Several  equidistant 


230          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Chisel,  Gouge,  Spokeshave,  Paring,  etc.,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

To  cut  the  hull  from  a  solid  block,  first  prepare  the  block  of 
the  right  dimensions,  and  plane  it,  making  sure  that  the  sides 
are  true  and  square  with  one  another.  The  sheer  plan  must 
now  be  transferred  to  the  sides  of  the  block,  either  by  copying 
it  on  the  wood  by  the  use  of  transfer  paper  placed  between  the 

4 3 


FIG.  354. 

drawing  and  the  wood,  by  cutting  out  a  pattern,  or  by  fastening 
the  drawing  itself  on  one  side  of  the  wood  and  a  reversed  dupli- 
cate on  the  other  side.  In  the  same  way  transfer  the  half- 
breadth  plan  twice  to  the  top  of  the  block,  on  each  side  of  a 
line  drawn  along  the  centre,  reversing  the  pattern  for  one  side, 
of  course.  Also  continue  the  centre  line  down  each  end  and 
along  the  bottom. 

If  the  top  and  side  outlines  can  be  sawed  to  the  lines  marked 
with  a  band-saw  or  jig-saw,  the  expense  will  be  but  slight  and 
considerable  labour  will  be  saved.  Saw  down  on  the  lines  i — i, 
2 — 2,  3 — 3,  etc.  (Fig.  354),  nearly  to  the  sheer  line  shown  in  Fig. 

horizontal  lines  are  drawn  across  the  plans.  One  of  these  represents  the  line 
of  the  water  when  the  boat  has  its  proper  load.  It  is  called  the  load  water- 
line.  The  other  lines  being  parallel  to  it  represent  other  imaginary  levels,  at 
equal  distances  apart — like  the  lines  which  would  be  made  by  the  water  if  the 
boat  sunk  deeper  or  floated  higher.  Other  lines  are  also  added  to  show  vertical 
and  horizontal,  longitudinal  and  cross-sections,  at  regular  intervals,  and  also 
other  longitudinal  sections,  but  these  details  you  will  find  fully  described  in 
works  on  yacht-  (and  model  yacht-  )  building. 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations        231 


355.  In  your  first  attempts  at  making  small  boats  it  may  be  well 
to  omit  the  deck  sheer,  leaving  the  top  flat  (Fig.  354),  as  this 
simplifies  matters  in  the  beginning.  Also,  saw  off  the  superfluous 
wood  shown  by  the  shaded  parts  of  Fig.  355.  Now  clamp  or 
wedge  the  block,  bottom  up,  firmly  on  the  bench,  in  case  you 
have  no  vise  arrangement  by  which  it  can  be  properly  held,  and 
rough  it  out  approximately  to  shape  with  a  wide  chisel  (see 
Paring)  or  the  draw-knife  (see  Draw-knife). 


FIG.  355. 

The  operation  of  shaping  and  hollowing  out  is  slow  work  and 
requires  much  care.  A  little  haste  may  spoil  the  work  of  hours. 
As  the  bottom  begins  to  approach  the  desired  shape  you  must 
have  something  more  than  the  eye  by  which  to  gauge  your  cutting, 
for  a  very  little  deviation  from  the  true  curve  may  spoil  your  boat. 
It  is  very  important  to  get  both  sides  of  the  boat  alike.  On  card- 
board or  stiff  paper,  mark  a  series  of  patterns  of  the  different  sec- 
tions shown  on  the  body  plan.  Cut  out  each  of  these  patterns  so 
as  to  save  the  part  which  is  the  reverse  of  the  shape  of  the  section 
of  the  boat,  thus  forming  a  series  of  templates,  which  you  can 
apply  to  the  hull  at  each  section  to  test  your  cutting,  until  the 
templates  just  fit  the  wood  at  their  respective  sections,  when  the 
shape  of  the  hull  will,  of  course,  agree  with  the  plan. 

The  spokeshave,  and  sometimes  the  plane,  can  be  used  to  good 
advantage  in  the  final  shaping  (see  Spokeshave].  Especial  care  is 


232          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

required  not  to  slice  off  too  much,  and  you  will,  of  course,  work, 
as  a  rule,  from  the  centre  (or  amidships)  towards  the  ends.  The 
block  can  be  held  in  the  lap  or  between  the  knees  for  this  shap- 
ing, but  it  is  better  for  all  kinds  of  crooked  work  to  have  the 
material  firmly  held  by  a  vise  or  some  other  contrivance,  so  that 
not  merely  the  hands  of  the  worker  are  free,  but  the  whole  body 
as  well. 

This  form  of  hull  is  simple  to  make,  in  that  the  curves  of  the 


FIG.  356. 

outside  are  all  convex.  There  are  no  concave  surfaces  and  re- 
versed curves.  The  surface  can  be  finally  shaped  by  the  use  of 
the  rasp,  followed  by  a  file,  and  finally  smoothed  with  scraper 
or  glass  (see  Scraper}.  Do  not  use  sandpaper  until  the  hull  is 
finished. 

The  inside  must  next  be  hollowed.  Gauge  a  line  around  the 
upper  side,  £-"  from  the  edge,  except  at  the  bow  and  stern,  where 
a  greater  distance  should  be  allowed  (Fig.  356).  The  hull  must 
now  be  held  firmly  in  some  way.  If  you  cannot  contrive  to  clamp 
it  firmly  without  bruising  the  outside,  you  should  arrange  some 
blocks  (padding  them  with  cloth  or  leather)  in  such  a  way  that  it 
can  be  held  securely.  It  is  better  to  spend  an  hour  in  fastening 
the  block  firmly  than  to  attempt  to  steady  it  with  one  hand  and 
to  cut  with  the  other.  In  all  the  shaping  of  the  boat,  both  hands 
should  be  free  if  possible.  Grasp  the  blade  of  the  tool  with  the 
left  hand,  or  lay  the  hand  across  it,  so  as  to  exert  a  back-pressure 
on  the  tool.  This  gives  great  control  of  the  tool  (see  Paring}. 

Bore  one  or  more  holes  (according  to  the  size  of  the  boat) 
downward  from  the  top  (Fig.  356),  being  very  careful  not  to  bore 
too  deeply,  but  to  leave  at  least  half  an  inch  of  wood  below  the 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations        233 


hole  (see  Boring).  Now  run  a  groove  with  the  gouge  around  the 
deck,  inside  of  the  line  marked,  and  hollow  out  the  inside  with 
the  gouge,  cutting  towards  the  middle.  The  holes  bored  will 
help  in  this  process.  Cut  down  straight  from  the  line  marked  on 
the  upper  side  until  the  thickness  of  the  sides  of  the  hull  is  re- 
duced to  perhaps  \  of  an  inch  (Fig.  357). 
The  object  of  the  increased  thickness  at  the 
gunwale  is  to  stiffen  the  sides  and  give  a  bet- 
ter bearing  for  nailing  down  the  deck.  Be- 
low this  point  make  the  thickness  as  uniform 


FIG.  357. 


as  you  can,  except  for  a  narrow  space  at  the  very  bottom  where 
the  keel  is  to  be  fastened,  where  it  is  often  well  to  leave  a  thicker 
ridge  (Fig.  357). 

Extreme  care  is  required  in  hollowing  the  inside.  It  is  best 
not  to  attempt  to  make  the  sides  thinner  than  one  fourth  of  an 
inch,  unless  you  are  a  pretty  good  workman  with  a  fair  degree  of 
patience,  for  it  is  hard  to  repair  the  damage  if  you  cut  too  deeply. 
Templates  can  be  made  for  the  inside.  You  can  tell  quite  well 
whether  you  are  making  the  thickness  uniform  by  the  sense  of 
feeling,  gauging  the  thickness  between  the  thumb  and  finger. 
Do  not  try  to  cut  away  too  much  at  the  bow  and  stern,  as  it  will 


FIG.  358. 

weaken  the  boat,  but  leave  a  sufficient  body  of  solid  wood. 
Smooth  the  inside  neatly  with  a  flatter  gouge  (if  you  have  it) 
than  that  with  which  you  removed  the  bulk  of  the  wood. 

Next,  with  a  thin  strip  or  batten,  mark  the  line  for  the  sheer  of 
the  deck  by  the  saw-kerfs  already  made  and  remove  the  wood. 


234          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

carefully  to  this  sheer  line.  The  outside  can  now  be  thoroughly 
sandpapered,  first  with,  perhaps,  No.  i£,  and  finally  with  No.  oo. 
Get  the  surface  as  smooth  as  possible  (see  Sandpaper}.  Next 
paint  the  outside  and  inside  with  two  coats  of  white  lead  and  oil 
(see  Painting).  It  is  a  good  plan  to  apply  a  coat  of  hot  oil  first. 
Now  to  make  this  same  simple  model  by  the  method  of  layers 


FIG.  359. 


FIG.  360. 


FIG.  361. 

you  will  readily  see  that  if  you  take  a  piece  of  board  of  a  thick- 
ness equal  to  the  distance  between  the  water  lines  in  the  sheer 
plan  (Fig.  353),  and  cut  from  it  pieces  of  the  shape  of  the  water 
lines  as  shown  in  the  half-breadth  plan  (Fig.  353),  and  also  cut 
out  the  centres  of  the  two  upper  pieces  as  shown  in  Figs.  358, 
359,  360,  and  then  fasten  these  pieces  one  upon  another  as  shown 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations       235 

in  Fig.  361 — you  will  see  that  you  have  built  up  the  general  form 
of  the  boat,  and  saved  much  of  the  labour  of  shaping  and 
hollowing. 

Before  cutting  out  these  layers,  a  centre  line  must  be  accurately 
marked  along  both  sides  and  at  the  rounded  ends,  so  that  the 
layers  can  be  put  together  in  the  correct  positions.  Also,  for  the 
same  reason,  mark  the  midship  lines  across  each  side  and  on 
the  edges,  as  shown.  In  drawing  the  inside  lines  (for  the  part 
to  be  cut  out),  care  must  be  taken  to  leave  sufficient  thickness  at 
the  sides  to  allow  for  the  final  shaping.  The  sawing  of  the  layers 
had  best  be  done  at  a  mill  with  a  band-saw  and  jig-  or  scroll-saw, 
but  can  be  done  by  hand,  of  course. 

The  boards  or  planks  must  be  accurately  dressed  so  as  to  make 
as  perfect  joints  as  possible  when  put  together.  If  not  convenient 
to  make  the  thickness  of  the  boards  agree  with  the  water  lines  of 
the  plan,  you  can  easily  draw  in  new  water  lines  to  agree  with 
the  thickness  of  the  board  you  may  have — say,  f- "  or  f "  apart. 
Glue  must  now  be  applied  to  the  joints,  and  the  pieces  firmly 
clamped  together  between  boards,  or  laid  flat  (bottom  side  up- 
wards) and  weights  applied.  It  is  best  not  to  cut  out  and  glue 
up  more  than  two  or  three  layers  at  a  time,  lest  they  become  bent 
or  sprung.  Care  must  be  used  in  applying  the  pressure  to  make 
it  uniform  and  not  cause  the  somewhat  flexible  sides  to  be  sprung 
or  twisted  out  of  shape  (see  Gluing  and  Clamps].  Do  not  delay 
this  building-up  operation  needlessly.  Do  not  leave  the  pieces 
lying  around  for  a  fortnight.  Keep  them  all  clamped  up  in  the 
proper  position,  or  under  pressure,  if  you  can,  until  the  whole 
form  is  glued  together,  as  such  pieces  spring  out  of  shape  very 
easily. 

After  the  glue  is  thoroughly  dry,  complete  the  shaping  of  the 
outside  and  inside  as  in  the  case  of  the  solid  block,  care  being 
taken  to  pare  off  the  projecting  angles  on  the  outside  gradually, 
so  as  not  to  cut  within  the  curve  marked  on  the  plan. 

The  fin  (when  flaring  at  the  top  and  not  too  thin)  can  also  be 
made  of  wood,  glued  and  screwed  on,  the  lead  being  screwed  to 


236          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

the  bottom  with  brass  screws.1  Be  sure  that  the  fin  is  in  line  with 
the  centre  line  of  the  boat. 

Unless  the  boat  is  quite  small  it  is  best  to  fit  in  two  or  three 
deck  beams  to  connect  the  sides  and  support  the  deck  (Fig.  357). 
These  should  be  of  thin  stuff  (perhaps  T3ff"  thick  and  £"  wide), 
set  on  edge  and  very  slightly  arched,  the  ends  being  fitted  into 
gains  cut  in  the  sides,  and  nailed  with  fine  brads.  They  can  also 
be  glued. 

The  deck  should  be  of  thin  stuff  (perhaps  \"  planed).  Mark 
carefully  on  the  piece  the  deck  outline  and  cut  it  approximately 
to  shape,  but  well  outside  of  the  line.  Fasten  small  blocks  of 
wood  to  the  under  side  of  the  deck  wherever  any  attachments  for 
the  rigging  are  to  be  fastened.  Paint  the  lower  side,  and  when 
dry  bore  a  row  of  holes  with  a  very  small  brad-awl  (see  Awl}  all 
around  the  edge,  %"  inside  of  the  line.  Smear  the  top  edge  of 
the  hull  with  thick  white  lead,  or  white  lead  putty,  and  nail  the 
deck  in  place  with  very  fine  wire  brads,  perhaps  £"  in  length. 
Care  must  be  used  not  to  split  the  deck  or  drive  the  nails  through 
the  sides  of  the  hull.  Fine  brass  screws  can  be  used  if  necessary. 
The  overhanging  edge  of  the  deck  can  be  trimmed  down  carefully 
with  chisel,  plane,  or  knife.  The  outside  of  the  deck  can  now 
be  painted. 

The  rudder  can  be  fixed  in  a  brass  tube,  the  ends  of  which  can 
be  set  in  lead.  The  mast  can  also  be  stepped  in  a  brass  tube,  or 
simply  pass  through  the  deck  to  the  bottom,  where  it  can  be 
stepped  in  a  smaller  hole,  which  must  be  bored  with  care  lest  it  go 
through. 

1  The  fin  can  be  cut  from  sheet  metal  (brass  or  sheet-iron)  and  inserted  in  a 
thin  saw-kerf  cut  exactly  in  the  centre  of  the  bottom,  being  set  in  thick  white 
lead,  or  it  can  be  riveted  to  thin  plates  screwed  to  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  or 
lips  can  be  bent  over  alternately  on  either  side  of  the  upper  edge  of  the  fin  and 
screwed  to  the  bottom. 

The  amount  of  lead  required  for  the  bulb  at  the  bottom  of  the  fin  can  be 
determined  by  loading  the  hull  with  weights  until  it  is  sunk  to  the  water  line. 
The  weights  will,  of  course,  represent  the  weight  of  lead  required.  This  can  be 
cast  in  a  mould  and  riveted  to  the  bottom  of  the  fin, 


A  Few  Miscellaneous  Operations       237 

When  you  come  to  making  models  of  less  simple  form — 
those  having  hollows  and  reversed  curves  in  their  outside 
form,  as  the  majority  of  boats  do — the  difficulty  of  shaping 
accurately  is  much  increased  and  more  care  is  required,  but 
the  principle  of  construction  remains  the  same. 

Suppose,  for  example,  you  are  ambitious  enough  to  under- 
take such  forms  as  those  which  compete  for  the  America's 
Cup,  for  instance,  you  will  find  it  difficult  to  carry  the  pro- 


FIG.  362. 

cess  of  building  by  horizontal  layers  below  a  certain  point 
(Fig.  362)  but  the  keel  and  lower  part  can  be  added  by  glu- 
ing (or  gluing  and  screwing)  a  piece  of  board  or  plank  on 
edge  (or  two  pieces,  if  necessary)  to  the  bottom.  The  lead 
can,  in  turn,  be  fastened  to  the  lower  edge  of  the  keel  by 
screws.  Models  of  such  yachts  are  not  always  the  best 
forms  for  toy  boats,  however  desirous  you  may  be  to  repro- 
duce in  miniature  these  famous  boats. 


PART  III 
HOUSE-BUILDING  FOR  BEGINNERS 


CHAPTER   XII 

HOUSE-BUILDING  in  its  simple  forms,  and  on  a  small 
scale,  is  very  suitable  work  for  the  beginner  in  wood- 
working. 

One  of  the  most  important  things  to  bear  in  mind  is  not 
to  be  too  ambitious  in  your  early  attempts.  Content  your- 
self with  the  simplest  forms  until  you  have  attained  suffi- 
cient skill  to  undertake  more  difficult  buildings. 

All  the  work  of  such  structures  as  are  here  shown  can, 
in  case  of  necessity,  be  done  by  one  person  alone ;  but— 
unless,  perhaps,  in  the  case  of  the  smallest  and  simplest 
houses — it  is  much  better  for  two  or  more  persons  to  join 
forces,  as  much  time  will  thereby  be  saved,  for  the  lumber 
can  be  handled  much  more  easily  and  quickly  by  two  than 
by  one.  This  will  be  the  best  way  if  the  building  is  to  be 
done  by  boys,  in  which  case  by  all  means  have  some  system 
for  carrying  on  the  work. 

You  know  men  usually  work  under  the  direction  of  a  head 
man,  or  foreman,  and,  when  there  is  no  head  man,  they  de- 
fer as  a  matter  of  course  to  the  one  of  their  number  who  is 
the  best  fitted  to  take  charge  of  the  work.  Choose  one  boy 
master-builder,  foreman,  or  boss,  letting  him  assign  to  each 

238 


House-Building  for  Beginners          239 

his  part  of  the  work  and  leaving  to  him  the  decision  of 
questions  that  arise  in  regard  to  the  details.  If  one  of  you 
is  clearly  more  of  a  mechanic  than  the  others,  choose  him 
foreman ;  otherwise  it  will  be  a  good  plan  to  have  the  office 
filled  by  each  in  turn  for  perhaps  one  day  apiece.  Let  the 
foreman  divide  the  work  as  fairly  as  possible.  That  is,  in- 
stead of  having  one  boy  saw  off  all  the  boards  while  another 
drives  all  the  nails,  arrange  regular  "  shifts  "  at  short  inter- 
vals, letting  the  two  change  places  and  work  perhaps  every 
hour.  This  plan  will  prevent  much  confusion  and  perhaps 
disagreement,  which  might  even  cause  the  work  to  be  given 
up — an  unfortunate  result  which  sometimes  happens  to 
boys'  undertakings. 

It  is  not  simply  starting  in  with  an  understanding  that 
you  are  to  take  turns  when  one  may  think  he  is  tired  of 
what  he  happens  to  be  doing,  but  it  is  the  regular  rotation 
of  work  and  responsibility  at  fixed  intervals  that  will  ensure 
harmony  and  a  successful  completion  of  the  work. 

The  situation  is  a  very  important  matter  which  will  be 
spoken  of  in  treating  of  the  larger  structures  farther  on,  but 
there  is  one  thing  which  should  be  borne  in  mind  for  even 
the  smallest  play-house  in  the  back  yard  of  a  town  lot,  and 
that  is  not  to  build  it  in  a  hollow  where  the  water  will  col- 
lect to  make  it  damp  or  uninhabitable.  A  flat  roof  should 
also  be  avoided,  as  it  is  much  harder  to  keep  tight  than  one 
which  has  sufficient  pitch  to  shed  the  water  freely. 

You  can  determine  the  kind  of  a  house  to  build  and  its 
general  dimensions  according  to  the  requirements  of  the 
case,  but  you  will,  of  course,  wish  it  to  be  attractive  in  ap- 
pearance, however  small  it  may  be;  and  therefore,  in  making 
the  drawings,  it  is  essential  to  have  in  view  the  block-form, 
or  general  shape  and  proportions.  If  these  are  not  pleasing 
and  agreeable  to  the  eye,  your  house  will  be  unattractive, 


240          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

for  nothing  you  can  do  in  the  way  of  ornamentation  or 
elaborate  details  will  make  up  for  poor  shape  and  proportions. 

To  design  a  building  (however  small)  with  a  pleasing  and 
attractive  exterior  is,  however,  no  easy  task.  If  you  can 
make  a  perspective  sketch  of  your  proposed  house  with 
reasonable  accuracy,  it  will  be  a  great  help,  as  the  regular 
working  drawings  (the  plan,  elevations,  etc.),  however  well 
made,  often  fail  to  give  one  a  clear  mental  picture  of  how 
the  structure  as  a  whole  will  look. 

A  little  model  will  be  of  the  greatest  service  in  deter- 
mining whether  the  shape  and  proportions  of  your  house 
are  good.  A  model  is  easily  made  of  pasteboard  with  suffi- 
cient accuracy  for  this  purpose.  It  is  quite  remarkable  how 
different  many  objects  appear  when  actually  made,  from  the 
way  one  thinks  they  will  appear,  in  spite  of  the  most  careful 
drawings;  therefore  do  not  despise  this  simple  precaution  of 
making  a  model  in  cases  where  attractive  appearance  is  an 
element,  for  it  may  save  you  from  putting  up  a  structure 
which  will  be  a  continual  eyesore. 

The  amateur  (like  many  professional  builders)  is  much 
more  liable  to  make  his  work  too  elaborate  and  with  too 
many  attempts  at  ornamentation  than  to  make  it  too  plain. 
So  give  your  first  attention  to  the  block-form,  and  then  to 
the  details.  Do  not  cover  your  house  with  an  embroidery 
of  jig-sawing,  fanciful  turning,  superfluous  brackets,  and  the 
like,  in  the  effort  to  make  it  pretty  or  to  imitate  the  vulgar 
details  of  inferior  summer  cottages.  The  amateur  is  also 
liable  in  the  case  of  very  small  buildings  to  make  them  too 
tall  in  proportion  to  their  ground  dimensions.  A  tall,  nar- 
row house  is  seldom  homelike  or  attractive,  whether  it  be 
six  feet  square  or  sixty. 

Finally,  be  simple  and  modest  in  your  designing,  avoid 
meaningless"  gingerbread  "  work,  do  not  set  your  house 


House-Building  for  Beginners         241 

up  on  stilts,  as  it  were,  but  hospitably  near  to  the  ground ; 
have  generous  doors  and  windows,  avoid  flashy  and  gaudy 
colours  in  painting,  cultivate  plants  and  vines  to  run  over  the 
outside,  and  keep  the  surroundings  neat  and  tidy. 

The  variety  of  small  structures  from  which  to  select  for 
your  early  attempts  is  almost  endless.  You  can  find  many 
ideas  for  your  designing  and  the  construction  in  every  town 
and  in  various  publications.  Only  simple  types  will  be 
treated  here,  involving  merely  such  principles  of  construction 
as  you  can  readily  apply  to  such  other  designs  as  you  may 
wish  to  carry  out.  As  it  is  impracticable  to  repeat  all  the 
suggestions  and  details  under  each  structure  treated  here, 
the  prospective  builder  who  should  begin  with  any  of  the 
later  examples  had  best  read  these  chapters  through  from 
the  beginning  before  starting  on  the  actual  work. 

One  of  the  simplest  and  most  easily  built  small  structures 
that  you  can  make  is  that  with  a  single-pitched  or  shed  or 
"  lean-to  "  roof;  that  is,  with  the  roof  slanting  only  one 
way.  This  style  of  construction,  though  commonly  applied 
to  a  rather  humble  class  of  buildings,  is  by  no  means  to  be 
despised,  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  built  by  boys  or 
amateurs  being  one  of  its  marked  advantages.  You  will 
find  this  simple  form  of  building  capitally  suited  to  many 
purposes,  and  a  good  type  with  which  to  begin. 

A  Play-house  or  Play-store. — You  know  that  an  ordinary 
wooden  building  has  a  framework  of  timbers, — a  kind  of 
skeleton  upon  which  the  boarding  is  nailed.  This  will  be 
shown  in  the  following  chapters,  but  a  very  small  house  or 
cabin,  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  363,  suitable  for  a  play-house 
for  boys  and  girls,  can  be  built  very  well  in  a  simpler  way 
by  making  the  four  sides  separately  and  then  nailing  them 
together  as  you  would  do  if  making  a  box.  There  is  no 


242          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

floor  (except  the  ground),  and  the  roof  is  to  be  nailed  down 
on  top  of  the  four  sides  as  you  would  nail  the  cover  on  the 
box. 


FIG.  363. 

A  little  house,  with  trees  a-row, 

And,  like  its  master,  very  low  ! — Pope. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Nailing,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

Fig.  365  shows  one  of  the  sides  (inside  view).  It  is  made  of 
boards  running  horizontally,  with  an  upright  cleat  at  each  edge, 
and  another  cleat  at  the  top. 

Fig.  366  shows  the  back  (inside  view),  made  in  the  same  way  as 
the  sides,  except  that  each  cleat  is  set  back  from  the  edge  if", 
thus  forming  a  rabbet  in  which  to  fit  either  side  when  the  house 
is  put  together.  The  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  boards  from 
the  top  are  not  nailed  to  the  cleats,  but  are  omitted,  to  leave  space 
for  a  large  open  window. 


House-Building  for  Beginners          243 


FRONT  ELEVATION. 


SIDE  ELEVATION. 


f 


Counter 


CO 


PLAN. 


REAR  ELEVATION. 


FIG.  364. 


FIG.  365. 


FIG.  366. 


244          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  367. 


Fig.  367  shows  the  front  (inside  view),  four  upright  cleats  being 
used  and  a  large  opening  left  for  the  doorway. 

First  estimate  the  stock  you  will  require  (see  Chapter  IV.),1 
and  try  to  get  dry  wood  without  too  many  large  knots. 

You  can  get  along  very  well  for  such  work  as  this  on  the  floor, 

or  even  the  ground,  with  a  couple 
of  boxes  for  horses,  but  a  bench 
and  horses  are  a  great  conven- 
ience. 

Make  the  sides  first,  disregard- 
ing the  slant  for  the  roof.  Take  a 
matched-board  and  square  off  one 
end  of  it,  if  it  is  not  already  square. 
Then  measure  5'  io"2  from  that 
end,  mark  across  by  the  square, 
and  saw  the  piece  off.  Use  this 
piece  (5'  io*  long)  as  a  measure  to  mark  the  lengths  of  enough 
pieces  to  make  the  two  sides.  If  you  saw  them  off  as  you  measure 
them,  one  by  one,  be  sure  to  mark  all  the  lengths  by  the  first 
piece,  and  not  by  the  one  last  sawed,  or  they  will  probably  vary 
in  length. 

When  you  put  the  boards  together  to  form  the  sides,  be  sure 
that  the  ends  are  in  line.  Use  the  edge  of  a  straight  board  for  a 
straight-edge  to  get  them  in  line,  or  drive  them  against  the  side 
of  the  room,  if  that  is  straight,  or  temporarily  nail  a  straight-edged 

1  To  find  the  number  of  square  feet  in  the  cleats,  first  find  the  number  of 
"  running"  feet,  that  is,  the  total  length  of  the  cleats  if  they  were  stretched 
out  in  a  long  line,  like  one  of  the  rails  of  a  railroad  track.  Then,  as  the  cleats 
are  3"  wide  (or  one  fourth  of  a  foot),  it  will  take  four  running  feet  to  make  one 
square  foot.  Therefore  divide  the  number  of  running  feet  by  four  and  the 
quotient  will  be  the  number  of  square  feet. 

9  Boards  twelve  feet  long  will  be  the  best  to  buy  for  this  house,  because  you 
can  get  two  lengths  from  each  board  without  waste.  You  could  not  be  sure, 
however,  of  getting  two  lengths  of  exactly  six  feet  from  each  twelve-foot  board, 
because  the  ends  are  frequently  checked  or  damaged  in  some  way  ;  so  it  will  be 
safest  to  make  the  length  5'  io",  as  given  above. 


House-Building  for  Beginners         245 

board  to  the  floor  and  keep  them  driven  up  squarely  against 
it. 

Make  sure,  also,  by  testing  with  the  square  or  by  measuring, 
that  each  side  of  the  house  when  made  is  a  rectangle  and  not  a 
rhomboid,  or  the  whole  house  will  be  askew  when  put  together. 

When  you  fit  the  matched  edges  be  sure  to  make  the  joints  as 
tight  as  you  can,  but  do  not  pound  directly  on  the  tongued  and 
grooved  edges  with  the  hammer.  Take  a  short  piece  of  waste 
boarding,  fit  it  to  the  tongue  or  groove  wherever  you  wish  to 
strike,  and  hit  this  waste  piece  with  the  hammer. 

You  will  see  that  there  is  no  need  of  sawing  out  a  square  hole 
for  the  window,  as  you  can  put  in  short  pieces  at  each  side  of 
the  window-space. 

Nail  the  upright  cleats  at  the  edges  with  i\"  nails,  driving  two 
into  each  board  in  the  way  shown  in  the  cut,  bearing  in  mind 
that  the  cleats  must  all  be  on  the  inside  of  the  house,  and  also  to 
have  the  tongues  of  the  boards  uppermost  when  the  house  is  put 
together.  Mark  the  front  edge  of  each  side  in  some  way  to  pre- 
vent any  mistake.  The  reason  for  putting  the  tongues  upward 
and  the  grooves  downward  is  because  the  joints  will  shed  the 
water  better,  as  otherwise  each  groove  would  be  a  little  trough 
into  which  the  rain  could  soak.  Measure  5'  6"  from  the  bottom 
on  the  front  edge  of  each  side  and  4'  6"  on  the  back  edge.  Draw 
a  straight  line  on  the  outside  between  these  points  and  it  will  give 
the  slant  for  the  roof.  Saw  the  boards  and  cleats  by  this  line  and 
then  fit  and  nail  the  top  cleats  as  in  Fig.  365,  or  nail  the  top  cleats 
first  and  saw  the  boards  off  by  them. 

Next  make  the  back  in  the  same  way,  setting  the  cleats  if" 
away  from  the  edges.  Leave  out  the  boards  at  the  window- 
space. 

Make  the  shutter,  and  trim  off  its  tongued  and  grooved  edges 
(see  Paring,  etc.)  before  nailing  the  back  of  the  house  together, 
as  you  can  thus  determine  more  easily  the  space  to  be  left  open. 
Also  trim  off  the  tongued  edge  of  the  board  coming  next  below 
the  shutter.  Leave  the  open  space  a  little  wider  than  the  shutter 


246          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

(say  ±'  wider)  to  allow  for  possible  swelling  of  the  boards. 
When  you  nail  the  cleats  on  the  drop-shutter,  be  sure  to  use 
nails  long  enough  to  clinch  (see  Nailing),  or  use  screws  (see 
Screws). 

The  front  is  to  be  made  in  the  same  way,  the  width  of  the 
door-space  being  27^",  and  of  the  boarding  at  each  side,  21^". 
Have  the  two  inner  cleats  project  about  an  inch  inside  the  edge 
of  the  doorway  for  the  door  to  hit  against  when  shut  (Fig. 
367),  and  "  toe  "  or  clinch  the  nails  for  these  cleats,  or  use 
a  few  screws,  so  that  the  slamming  of  the  door  will  not  loosen 
them. 

Now  the  four  sides  are  ready  to  put  together.  Find  a  spot  as 
nearly  level  as  you  can  for  your  house.  Do  not,  however,  put  it 
in  a  hollow  where  the  floor  will  be  flooded  with  water  when 
it  rains.  Hold  up  the  front  and  one  side  in  the  right  position, 
press  them  closely  together  at  the  corner,  and  drive  in  a  couple 
of  nails  to  hold  them  until  you  can  get  the  other  parts  in  place. 
Then  fit  on  the  other  side  and  the  back  in  the  same  way.  Try 
the  four  corners  with  the  steel  square,  and  when  you  have  them 
right  nail  all  the  corners  strongly  with  2\"  nails.  If  you  have  no 
large  square,  measure  the  diagonals  with  a  stick,  altering  the 
angles  at  the  corners  until  the  diagonals  are  equal.  Toe  the 
nails  at  the  corners,  and,  in  fact,  if  you  can  do  it  neatly,  it  will 
be  stronger  to  toe  the  nails  throughout  the  work. 

Now  get  out  boards  6'  long  for  the  roof,  to  run  from  side  to 
side.  When  you  nail  them  on  have  them  project  \"  all  around. 
Cover  the  roof  with  roofing-  or  sheathing-paper.  Lay  it  in  strips 
from  side  to  side,  beginning  at  the  back  and  letting  the  second 
strip  overlap  the  first,  as  shingles  are  laid.  Three  strips  will 
cover  the  roof  once.  Of  course  you  can  cover  it  with  as  many 
layers  as  you  wish  to  pay  for.  Fasten  the  paper  with  roofing 
nails  or  tacks.  Drive  them  close  together,  but  only  where  the 
strips  lap  and  at  the  edges  of  the  roof.  You  can  bend  the  edges 
of  the  paper  down  over  the  edge  of  the  roof  to  cover  the  joint 
underneath  and  nail  neat  strips  of  wood  outside  to  cover  the 


11 


House-Building  for  Beginners          247 

edges  of  the  paper,  or  you  can  simply  nail  the  paper  around  the 
edge  of  the  roof. 

In  making  the  door  (Fig.  368)  clinch  the  nails  which  fasten 
the  cleats,  or  use  screws,  and  trim  off  the  tongued  and  grooved 
edges,  as  with  the  drop-shutter. 

Now  hang  the  door  and  drop-shutter  with  two  strap-hinges 
each.  Place  the  door  and  shutter  exactly  in  position 
(shut),  and  tack  them  temporarily  in  place  with  a  few 
nails,  or  wedge  them.  Then  carefully  placing  each 
hinge  so  that  the  pin  on  which  it  turns  is  just  in  line 
with  the  crack  between  the  door  and  the  door-frame, 
mark  points  for  the  screws.  Bore  holes  for  the  screws 
and  fasten  the  hinges  in  place  (see  Screws). 

Put  a  latch,  a  catch,  or  a  hasp  and  padlock  on  the 
door,  and  a  hasp  or  screw-eye  and  hook  on  the  inside      FIG  ^68 
for  the  shutter.     Also  fix  a  brace  to  hold  the  shutter 
when  lifted,  or  you  can  arrange  a  rope  to  pass  up  from  the  out- 
side of  the  shutter  and  around  a  pulley  to  the  inside  of  the  house, 
where  it  can  hang  down  and  be  used  to  hold  the  shutter  up  by 
fastening  it  round  a  cleat  or  a  couple  of  nails. 

You  can  fix  a  shelf  inside  under  the  open  window  at  the  back 
(Fig.  364,  Plan),  resting  on  cleats  nailed  to  the  sides  of  the 
house,  and  also  put  in  a  seat  at  one  or  both  sides,  supporting  the 
middle  by  a  short  post  or  a  short  piece  of  board  on  edge. 

A  few  strips  will  serve  to  hold  the  lights  of  window-glass  in 
place.  The  house  is  now  ready  to  occupy. 

Of  course  you  can  save  a  good  deal  of  labour  (and  lose  some 
experience)  at  slight  expense  by  having  the  boards  sawed  off 
squarely  of  the  given  lengths  at  a  mill, — often  where  you  buy  the 
wood.  In  this  case,  remember  to  make  a  list  of  the  number  of 
boards  of  each  length  to  take  to  the  mill. 

If  you  would  like  to  be  able  to  move  your  house  or  to  take  it 
apart  and  store  it  during  the  winter,  you  can  fasten  the  four  sides 
and  roof  together  with  screws,  or  hook  them  together  on  the 
inside  with  stout  screw-eyes  and  hooks.  You  will  find  this  way 


248          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


in  very  common  use  by  builders  and  contractors  in  the  little  port- 
able tool-houses,  offices,  and  shops  which  they  take  apart  and 
move  from  place  to  place. 


FIG.  369. 

Play-store  or  Booth. — A  good  form  for  a  simple  play- 
store  or  booth  (Fig.  369)  can,  if  small,  be  constructed  on  the 
same  box-like  principle  as  the  little  building  just  shown,  and 
the  details  of  construction  are  so  similar  that  special  direc- 
tions for  this  design  are  unnecessary.  If  large,  it  should, 
however,  have  a  frame,  which  you  can  readily  pattern  after 
that  shown  in  Fig.  371. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screivs,  Paint- 
ing, in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any 
other  references. 

By  using  heavier  cleats,  as  2"  x  2" 
or  2"  x  4",  on  the  ends,  those  on  the 
front  and  back  can  be  omitted,  and 
the  boards  nailed  directly  to  the 
sides.  An  arrangement  for  one  end 
(that  with  the  door)  is  suggested  in 
Fig-  37°i  2"  x  2"  of  2"  x  4"  joist  being 
FIG.  370.  used. 


House-Building  for  Beginners         249 

A  shelf  or  counter  can  be  fitted  inside  the  drop-window  for  the 
display  of  your  wares. 

This  general  shape  can  often  be  advantageously  used  for 
a  quite  good-sized  building — a  little  cottage,  for  instance — 
and  when  an  addition  to  a  larger  structure  is  desired,  it  is 
sometimes  the  best  form  for  the  purpose,  for  its  shape  renders 
it  more  easily  attached  than  any  other  form  of  ell  (Fig.  391). 

A  building  of  this  style,  however  suitable  as  an  attach- 
ment to  a  larger  structure,  will  not  be  an  attractive  object 
in  some  situations.  It  will  not  stand  alone,  regardless  of  the 
surroundings,  as  well  as  some  other  forms.  Therefore  it  is 
well  to  consider,  before  deciding  to  build  anything  of  this 
kind  larger  than  the  play-houses  and  stores  just  shown, 
whether  your  house  will  have  a  building,  a  fence,  or  a  wall 
for  a  background;  or  a  steep  bluff  or  ledge  under  which  it 
will  nestle,  or  trees  or  shrubbery  behind  or  around  it.  In 
such  cases  it  will  often  be  attractive  in  appearance.  If, 
however,  it  is  to  be  put  in  a  prominent  place  where  it  can 
be  viewed  from  all  positions,  it  may  be  better  to  select  some 
other  type. 

Frame  for  Larger  Building  with  Lean-to  Roof. — While 
the  simple  box-like  arrangement  described  above  is  suitable 
for  a  very  small  structure,  it  must  be  discarded  for  a  frame 
of  some  sort  when  you  undertake  a  larger  and  more  perman- 
ent building. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

This  frame  can  be  put  together  as  shown  for  the  framed 
structures  described  farther  on,  the  only  difference  being  at  the 
top.  A  simple  method  of  framing  is  shown  in  Fig.  371, 


250          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Fig.  382  shows  a  simple  way  of  fitting  boards  around  the  edge 
of  the  roof  where  it  overhangs,  and  other  arrangements  for  this 
detail  can  be  found  in  the  various  illustrations.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  have  roofs  overhang,  even  for  a  large  building,  but  it  is 


FIG.  371. 

usually  desirable  on  the  ground  of  appearance  and  for  shedding 
the  water  away  from  the  walls. 

For  matters  relating  to  the  foundation,  see  pages  259-264. 

Play-house  or  Cabin. — The  house  shown  in  Fig.  372  can 
be  put  together  in  the  way  already  shown. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

The  ground  dimensions  can  be  5'  or  6'  x  7' or  8'.  The  ends 
must  be  made  higher  than  the  sides,  as  shown,  to  allow  for  the 
slant  of  the  roof.  Mark  lines,  using  a  straight-edge,  to  give  the 
slant  for  both  sides  of  the  roof,  and  saw  the  boards  off  by  these 
lines.  A  short  cleat  can  be  added  at  the  top  in  the  middle  to 
stiffen  these  top  boards. 


House-Building  for  Beginners          251 

After  the  sides  and  ends  are  put  together,  get  out  two  boards, 
of  the  shape  shown  in  Fig.  373,  to  rest  in  four  rectangular  notches 
cut  in  the  front  and  back  sides  of  the  house.  These  pieces  are 
to  support  the  roof-boards,  and  their  upper  edges  are  to  be  cut  at 


FIG.  372. 

the  same  angle  as  the  top  of  either  end  of  the  house.     Nail  these 
pieces  firmly  in  place  at  each  end  (Fig.  374). 

Now  get  out  boards  for  the  roof,  to  run  from  end  to  end  and 
about  4"  longer  than  the  house.  Begin  to  nail  them  on  at  the 
top,  and  have  the  roof  overhang  the  sides  and  ends  2"  all 
around. 

You  can  easily  put  in  the  window-sash,  either  by  hinging  it  so 
as  to  swing  open,  or  by  having  it  slide 
to  the  right    or    left    on    strips   nailed 
above  and  below  it,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
369- 


FIG.  373. 


The  roof-boards  can  also  be  laid  the  other  way  by  putting  in  a 
ridge-piece  in  the  form  of  a  piece  of  studding  or  joist  of  any  size 


252          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


not  less  than  2"  x  2"  (Fig.  377),   or  even   a  board  on  edge,  to 
which  the  upper  ends  of  the  roof-boards  can  be  nailed. 


FIG.  374. 

Another  form  of  roof,  but  arranged  in  the  same  way,  is  shown 
in  Fig.  375. 

You  will  require  a  compass-saw  for  the  curves,  or  you  can  have 
them  sawed  by  a  band-saw,  or  the  wood  can  be  trimmed  to  the 
line  with  the  hatchet  and  draw-knife  or  chisel  (see  Paring). 

Another  way  to  put  any  such  little  structure  as  this  together  is 
to  have  the  sheathing  run  up  and  down  and  the  cleats  horizontally. 
This  makes  a  neater  structure  than  the  way  just  given.  The 

general  principle 
of  the  construction 
is  the  same,  the 
four  sides  being 
FlG- 375-  made  separately 

and  then  fastened  together. 

Play-house,  Store,  or  Cabin. — The  design  shown  in  Fig. 
376  can  be  carried  out  in  the  manner  already  described. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 


House-Building  for  Beginners          253 

Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

The  ground  dimensions  can  be  6'  or  7'  x  8'  or  9'.  In  making 
the  ends  where  they  are  cut  off  at  the  top  to  give  the  slant 
for  the  roof,  inside  cleats  should  be  used.  Mark  lines,  using 


FIG.  376. 

a  straight-edge,  for  the  slant  for  both  sides  of  the  roof,  and 
saw  the  boards  off  by  these  lines.  It  will  be  convenient  and 
will  look  well  to  make  the  angle  at  the  top  a  right  angle.  At 
the  top  saw  out  a  notch  in  which  to  rest  the  ridge-pole,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  377. 

After  the  sides  and  ends  are  fastened  together,  nail  the  ridge- 
pole in  place  and  get  out  short  boards  for  the  roof.  Cut  these 
for  one  side  of  the  roof  so  as  to  be  about  2"  longer  than  the  slant 
of  the  end  of  the  house,  and  make  those  for  the  other  side  of  the 
roof  as  much  longer  as  the  thickness  of  the  boards,  so  that  they 


254          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

will  lap  over  at  the  top,  as  shown  in  Fig.  377.  Nail  them  on, 
beginning  at  one  end,  so  that  the  roof  will  overlap  the  ends  and 
sides  2"  all  around. 

Nailing  upright  strips  at  the  corners,  as  is  commonly  done  on 
wooden  houses,  and  as  is  shown  in  the  picture,  will  give  the  house 


FIG.  377. 

a  more  finished  appearance.     The  other  details  are  similar  to 
those  already  shown. 

This  house  can  have  a  floor,  which  can  be  made  of  2"  x  4" 
studding  simply  nailed  together  and  floored  over  (Fig.  378), 
forming  a  sort  of  platform  to  which  the  sides  and  ends  can  be 
nailed  when  the  house  is  put  together;  and  the  best  way  to  make 
the  whole  structure  is  that  shown  in  Fig.  377,  the  boards  running 
vertically  and  cleats  horizontally.  In  case  of  using  a  platform 
floor  with  this  last  method  of  construction,  the  lower  cleats  can 
be  raised  from  the  bottom  so  as  to  rest  on  the  floor,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  378.  This  makes  the  putting  together  of  the  house  quite 


House-Building  for  Beginners          255 

simple,  as  the  fitting  of  the  sides  and  ends  and  floor  in   their 
proper  places  obviates  the  need  of  testing  with  square  or  measur- 


FIG.  379. 

ing  diagonals.     The  lower  cleats  on  the  sides  and  ends  are  not 
really   necessary,    however,  except   for   convenience  in  putting 


256          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

together  and  taking  apart,  as  the  vertical  sheathing  can  be  nailed 
directly  to  the  floor-frame  or  sills,  as  shown  in  Fig.  377. 


FIG.  380. 


FIG.  381. 

The  whole  can  then  be  levelled  (see  Level  and  Plumb),  being 
blocked  up  underneath  as  may  be  required. 


House-Building  for  Beginners          257 

The  design  is  also  suitable  for  a  larger  structure,  in  which  case 
a  frame  should  be  made  as  shown  in  Fig.  389. 

Another  very  similar  design  is  shown  in  Fig.  379,  and  can 
be  put  together  according  to  the  principles  already  shown. 


FIG.  382. 

The  boarding  runs  vertically  and  the  cleats  horizontally,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  377. 

Figs.  380  and  381  show  other  simple  arrangements,  the 
ground  dimensions  of  which  can  be,  perhaps,  8'  x  12',  and 
which  can  be  put  together  in  the  same  way  as  the  preceding 
cases,  with  or  without  a  floor,  and  with  the  boarding  running 
vertically  or  horizontally. 

If  a  stove  is  to  be  used,  the  smoke-pipe  can  be  arranged  to  pass 
through  the  side  of  the  house,  as  in  Figs.  382,  383,  etc.  If  to 
pass  through  the  roof,  it  should  be  soldered  or  riveted  to  a  sheet 
of  metal,  as  galvanized  iron,  the  upper  edge  of  the  latter  being 


258          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


slipped  under  the  roof  covering  while  the  lower  edge  laps  over  it 
(Fig.  384),  on  just  the  same  principle  that  shingles  are  laid,  the 


FIG.  383. 

idea  being,  of  course,  that  the  water  will  run  down  over  the  metal 
without  leaking  through,  just  as  it  runs  down  over  the  shingles. 
This  simple  principle  must  always  be  observed  whenever  metal  is 
used  to  prevent  joints  leaking.  With  such  small  houses  as  these 
it  is  usually  easier  and  safer  about  leakage  to  have  the  pipe  run 
through  the  side  of  the  house.  If  to  go 

through    the    roof  (par- 
ticularly when    there  is 

no  special  roof  covering 

but  boards),  it  is  a  good 

plan   to   have    the    pipe 

pass    through    the    roof 

near  the  ridge,  so   that 

the  upper  edges   of  the 
FIG.  384.  metal  sheet  can  be  slip-  FIG.  385. 

ped  under  one  of  the  saddle-boards  (Fig.  385).  In  any  case,  an 
air  space  must  be  allowed  between  the  smoke-pipe  and  the  wood, 


House-Building  for  Beginners          259 

and  it  is  always  well  to  have  a  collar  an  inch  or  two  outside  of 
the  pipe.  Any  tinsmith  or  metal-worker  can  arrange  these  details. 

Round  drain-pipe  set  in  cement  is  often  used  for  a  cheap  pipe 
or  chimney,  and  answers  the  purpose  very  well. 

Fig.  383  also  shows  the  way  to  lay  sheathing-  or  roofing-paper 
in  case  you  wish  to  use  it  for  a  temporary  structure.  It  also 
gives  a  suggestion  for  a  window-shutter  to  be  raised  by  a  cord 
passing  through  to  the  inside,  where  it  can  be  fastened  to  a  cleat. 

A  Workshop. — A  small  building,  like  that  shown  in  Fig. 
386,  from  8'  to  12'  wide  by  12'  to  18'  long,  will  be  suitable 
for  a  workshop  or  for  various  other  purposes. 


FIG.  386. 

While  it  will  do  for  a  little  play-house  without  a  floor,  like 
those  described  at  first,  to  rest  directly  upon  the  ground,  a 
better  structure  like  this  should  have  some  sort  of  under- 
pinning. 

It  is  not  customary  to  lay  a  stone  or  brick  and  cement  founda- 
tion for  such  a  structure  as  this,  because  the  building  is  not  usually 
worth  it.  It  can  very  well  be  rested  upon  stones  at  the  corners 
and  middle  of  the  sides  or  upon  posts  set  in  the  ground.  If  the 


260          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

soil  is  sandy  and  large  stones  abundant,  it  can  be  rested  upon 
piers  of  stones.  So  far  as  supporting  the  building  for  one  season 
is  concerned,  simply  resting  it  upon  stones  laid  on  top  of  the 
ground  is  sufficient,  but  the  action  of  the  frost  will  move  the 
stones  and  heave  the  building  more  or  less  out  of  place,  which 
will  require  it  to  be  occasionally  levelled  and  blocked  up.  A 
hole  can  be  dug  to  a  depth  of  about  three  feet,  so  as  to  be  below 
the  action  of  the  frost,  and  a  pier  of  flat  stones  built  up.  If  the 
soil  is  of  clear,  well-packed  sand,  a  pier  of  this  sort  will  last  for 
some  time  before  being  thrown  out  of  shape  by  the  frost,  al- 
though, of  course,  if  laid  in  cement  (or  if  bricks  laid  in  cement 
are  used),  it  will  be  much  more  permanent.  If  the  soil  is  clayey, 
the  foundation,  of  whatever  kind,  should  be  carried  to  a  depth  of 
three  feet  or  more  and  cemented,  and  even  then  it  will  be  liable 
to  be  heaved  by  the  action  of  the  frost.  This  involves  consider- 
able labour  and  perhaps  expense,  and  for  such  a  small  building 
it  will  usually  be  better  to  rest  it  upon  flat  stones  laid  on  the  sur- 
face, or  to  block  it  up  in  some  way  so  as  to  be  clear  of  the  ground, 
and  then  level  it  whenever  necessary,  which  is  not  difficult  with  so 
small  a  structure.1 

While  brick  piers  built  upon  a  foundation  of  stone  laid  in 
cement  and  carried  to  a  depth  of  three  feet  or  more  is 
doubtless  the  best  underpinning  you  can  have  (next  to  a 
regular  foundation  wall),  it  is  not  always  advisable  to  incur 
the  necessary  expense  and  labour,  and  a  common  and 
usually  satisfactory  way  for  a  building  of  this  sort  is  to 
rest  it  upon  posts  set  in  the  ground.  But  before  placing 
the  posts  the  exact  position  of  the  building  must  be  deter- 
mined. 

Having  fixed  upon  the  position  of  the  building,    proceed  to 

1  If  you  have  only  small  stones  or  blocks  upon  which  to  rest  it,  the  building 
can  be  put  together  directly  upon  the  ground,  the  sills  being  rested  tempor- 
arily upon  any  material  at  hand,  and  then  the  supports  adjusted  underneath. 


House-Building  for  Beginners          261 

stake  it  out.  First  measure  off  with  the  tape,  or  rod,  or  even  a 
string,  the  length  of  one  of  the  sides  of  the  building,  and  drive  a 
stake  at  each  end  of  the  line.  Stretch  a  line  between  these  stakes 
and  measure  off  the  length  of  the  end  of  the  building  from  each 
stake,  as  nearly  as  possible  at  right  angles  with  the  first  line. 
You  can  do  this  appioximately  with  the  help  of  a  "  mason's 
square,"  or  large  triangle,  which  you  can  make  yourself  of  thin 
strips  of  wood  nailed  together  in  the  form  of  a  right-angled 
triangle  with  sides  6',  8',  and  10'  long,  or  the  sides  can  be  3', 
4',  and  5'  long.1  Whatever  method  you  use,  be  sure  that  the 
figure  is  rectangular,  and  move  one  or  two  of  the  stakes,  if  neces- 
sary, until  the  diagonals  are  of  equal  length. 

If   the    ground    is    uneven,  keep  the    tape    horizontal   when 

1  You  can  mark  a  point  on  one  string  3'  from  one  stake  and  a  point  on  the 
other  string  4'  from  the  same  stake,  and  then  increase  or  decrease  the  angle 
made  by  the  two  strings  until  another  string  exactly  5'  long  will  just  reach  from 
the  marked  point  on  one  string  ^  K.  xl  B 

to  that  on  the  other.     This  pro-  *"'x  /       I 

cess  is  based  on  the  principle  of         ;  '^  s* 

mathematics  that   if   the     two  *v..  s 

sides  of  a  right-angled  triangle 
are  respectively  3  units  and  4 
units  in  length,  the  length  of 

the  hypothenuse  will  be  5  units.  ^.'  '•*+., 

Another  way,  if  you  are   fond    /-. 

of   mathematics,  is  to  find  the  p          o 

length  of  the  diagonals  of  the 
plan  of  the  house  by  extracting  the  square  root  of  the  sum  of  the  squares  of 
the  two  sides.  (The  square  described  on  the  hypothenuse  of  a  right-angled 
triangle  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  squares  described  on  the  other  two  sides.) 
You  can  measure  the  diagonal  directly  from  a  plan  if  you  understand  mechan- 
ical drawing  well  enough  to  make  an  accurate  plan  on  a  scale  of  perhaps  \"  or 
i"  to  a  foot.  Then  take  one  tape,  or  string,  measuring  the  width  of  the  build- 
ing, with  one  end  held  on  the  stake  C  (Fig.  387),  and  another  tape  measuring 
the  length  of  the  diagonal,  with  the  end  held  on  the  stake  D.  Drive  the  stake 
A  at  the  point  where  the  two  tapes  meet  when  brought  together.  Reversing  the 
positions  of  the  tapes  will  give  in  the  same  way  the  fourth  corner  B.  The  dis- 
tance A  B  should  equal  C  D, 


each  of  these 
points.     You  can 


262          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

measuring,  and  to  determine  the  points  required  drop  a  plurnb- 
line  from  the  end  of  the  tape  which  is  raised  from  the  ground. 

Having  in  this  way  accurately  fixed  upon  the  lines  for  the  four 
sides  of  the  house,  continue  these  lines  a  few  feet  (perhaps  4  or  5 
feet)  beyond  the  corners  to  the  points  marked  E  (Fig.  388),  and 

v*  drive  a  stake   at 

"jr 

easily  get  these 
eight  stakes  in 
line  by  sighting 
from  the  four 
first  driven.  Next 
drive  in  one  of 
,4-jC  Dx-fx  these  outside 

E  •-(-!") t"f~V — &  stakes    (the    one 

"~j  where  the  ground 

E  E  is  the  highest  in 

FIG.  388. 

case  the   surface 

is  uneven)  until  it  sticks  out  of  the  ground  a  few  inches,  and 
then  drive  the  other  seven  until  their  tops  are  level  with  the  top 
of  the  first.  This  you  can  determine  by  applying  the  level  to  a 
line  stretched  taut  from  the  top  of  one  post  to  the  top  of  another. 
Drive  a  nail  into  the  top  of  each  stake  to  hold  the  string,  or  cut 
a  notch  for  the  same  purpose.  Now  if  strings  are  tightly  stretched 
between  these  stakes,  they  will  intersect  over  the  four  stakes  first 
driven  at  the  corners  of  the  house.  These  four  stakes  you  can 
now  remove  when  you  dig  the  holes  for  the  posts,  and  the  exact 
position  of  each  post  and  its  height  above  the  surface  will  be 
determined  by  the  intersection  of  the  strings  from  the  outside 
stakes.  The  strings  can  be  taken  off  while  you  are  digging  and 
replaced  when  you  are  getting  the  posts  in  position. 

Next  dig  a  hole  at  one  corner,  about  18*  in  diameter  and  about 
2i'  °r  3'  in  depth.  In  this  hole  set  a  post  about  6"  in  diameter, 
sawed  off  squarely  at  the  upper  end,  and  of  such  a  length  that 


House-Building  for  Beginners          263 

when  pounded  down  to  a  firm  and  upright  bearing  the  top  of  it 
will  reach  the  string  stretched  between  the  levelling  stakes. 
When  you  fill  up  the  hole  put  in  only  a  little  earth  at  a  time, 
"  tamping  "  each  layer  compactly  around  the  post  with  an  iron 
bar  or  stick  before  adding  more  earth.  Contrary  to  what  one 
might  naturally  think,  the  earth  can  be  tamped  more  compactly 
with  a  bar  or  stick  than  with  a  heavy  joist. 

Set  another  post  in  the  same  way  at  the  next  corner,  fixing  it 
accurately  in  position  by  means  of  the  strings,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  first  post,  and  seeing  that  the  distance  from  the  outside  of 
this  post  to  the  outside  of  the  first  one  is  that  required  by  the 
plan. 

Set  the  other  corner-posts  in  the  same  way,  testing  all  the  dis- 
tances (including  the  diagonals)  as  before.  You  can  try  the 
height  of  each  post  now  and  then  as  you  dig,  and  thus  avoid 
making  too  deep  a  hole. 

If  you  prefer,  you  can  set  all  the  posts  in  the  right  positions  at 
first,  but  without  trying  to  level  the  tops,  merely  seeing  that  the 
tops  all  stick  up  above  the  line.  You  can  then  strike  a  horizontal 
line  all  around  with  a  cord,  and  saw  all  the  posts  off  by  this  line 
— a  process  which  you  very  likely  have  seen  when  watching  the 
work  on  a  pile-bridge  or  wharf.  Sawing  off  the  posts  squarely 
will  be  much  easier,  however,  before  they  are  set  in  the  ground. 

The  posts  may  be  of  locust,  cedar,  cypress,  or  chestnut. 
Locust  is  considered  very  durable,  but  is  the  most  expens- 
ive. Cedar  is  excellent,  and  will  be  perfectly  satisfactory. 
Chestnut  will  do  very  well  for  a  house  of  this  sort,  and  is 
comparatively  cheap.  If  you  do  not  mind  the  slight  in- 
crease in  cost,  cedar  is  better.  If  you  wish  to  be  as  eco- 
nomical as  possible,  chestnut  will  answer.1 

1  The  part  of  the  post  which  is  embedded  in  the  ground  is  sometimes  charred 
or  painted  to  preserve  it  from  decay.  This  can  be  easily  done,  but  the  process 
js  advisable  only  with  thoroughly  seasoned  wood.  It  is  highly  injurious  (o 


264          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

The  reason  for  selecting  wood  of  greater  natural  durability 
for  the  posts  than  for  the  rest  of  the  house  is  to  withstand 
the  greater  exposure  of  the  posts  to  alternate  moisture  and 
dryness.  Timber  will  last  for  centuries  if  placed  in  a  shel- 
tered position  and  exposed  to  a  free  circulation  of  air.  It 
will  also  last  for  a  long  period  when  immersed  in  fresh  water 
or  sunk  underground,  so  as  to  be  beyond  the  influence  of 
atmospheric  changes.  But  the  alternate  exposure  to  dry- 
ness  and  moisture,  as  in  the  case  of  posts  partly  above  and 
partly  below  ground,  or  piles  for  a  wharf  or  bridge,  causes 
decay  in  a  comparatively  short  time  (see  Appendix). 

If  your  site  is  too  rocky  for  posts,  you  will  be  saved  some 
digging,  but  must  provide  a  level  and  stable  foundation  in 
some  other  way.  It  rarely  happens  that  the  surface  will  be 
quite  level,  and  you  must  use  stone  or  timbers  for  under- 
pinning. If  there  are  one  or  two  corners  that  must  be 
raised,  owing  to  inequality  of  the  surface,  and  you  cannot 
find  large  stones  that  will  be  sure  to  stay  in  place,  you  can 
rest  the  raised  parts  of  the  house  upon  posts  securely  braced. 
Rock  is  not  the  most  desirable  foundation  for  a  building  with 
a  regular  underpinning  and  cellar — the  biblical  parable  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding — and  there  is  no  foundation  su- 
perior to  sand  or  gravel  (only  the  sand  or  gravel  must  be 
confined  and  not  free  to  slide  or  move).  But  as  your  house 
merely  rests  on  the  surface,  and  has  no  cellar  to  be  dug  or 
drained,  there  is  no  disadvantage  in  putting  it  on  a  rock, 
provided  you  support  it  properly.  Do  not  rest  one  end  of 
it  on  a  pile  of  loose  cobble-stones,  five  feet  high,  only  to 
have  the  stones  slip  some  wet,  stormy  night  and  let  the 
building  down. 

green  timber,  as  by  closing  the  pores  and  obstructing  evaporation  from  the 
surface  it  prevents  the  seasoning  of  the  wood  and  causes  fermentation  and 
decay  within  (see  Appendix). 


House-Building  for  Beginners          265 

Having  the  foundation  set,  the  next  thing  is  the  frame, 
which  for  a  small  building  of  this  kind  can  be  made  of 
almost  any  kind  of  wood  which  you  can  readily  obtain, 
provided,  of  course,  that  it  is  dry  enough  and  not  weakened 
by  large  knots  or  other  defects. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 


FIG.  389. 

Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up 
any  other  references. 

The  sills,  or  the  lower  timbers  of  the  frame  which  rest  upon 
the  foundation,  should  be  got  out  first,  and  can  be  of  4"  x  4" 
stock,  and  halved  at  the  ends  (see  Halving}  (Fig.  389).  Upon 
these  sills  is  to  be  set  up  a  4"  x  4"  post  of  the  desired  length  at 
each  corner.1 

1  These  posts,  and  even  the  sills,  can  be  built  up  if  necessary  of  2"  x  4"  stud- 
ding, two  pieces  being  placed  side  by  side  and  nailed  together,  but  this  is  not 


266          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

On  top  of  these  are  placed  the  plates,  which  can  be  of  2"  x  4" 
studding  laid  flat  and  halved  at  the  ends.  Be  sure  to  get  out 
these  pieces  before  beginning  to  put  them  together.  Toe-nail 
the  posts  to  the  sills  and  nail  the  plates  directly  down  on  top  of 
the  posts,  keeping  the  latter  in  a  vertical  position  by  temporarily 
nailing  on  strips  of  board  diagonally,  adjusting  these  until  the  posts 
are  vertical  and  at  right  angles  to  the  sills  (see  Plumb  and  Square}. 

Next  put  in  vertical  studding  (2"  x  4")  at  each  side  of  the  door- 
space,  and  at  the  sides  of  the  window-spaces,  allowing  a  little  more 
space  than  the  exact  widths  of  the  door  and  window- frames.  In 
the  same  way  horizontal  studding  should  be  fitted  in  above  the 
door-space  and  above  and  below  the  window-spaces,  and  in  any 
places  where  it  will  be  a  help  in  stiffening  the  frame  or  for  nailing 
on  the  boarding.  Another  way  is  to  first  fit  in  pieces  of  joist 
horizontally,  either  midway  between  the  sills  and  plates  (except 
at  the  window-  and  door-spaces),  or  running  the  entire  length 
above  and  below  the  windows.  Just  where  and  how  many  of 
these  pieces  are  to  be  put  in  depends  upon  the  arrangement  of  the 
doors  and  windows,  and  pieces  of  vertical  studding  can  be  fitted 
in  at  each  side  of  the  door-  and  window-spaces  and  wherever  ad- 
visable. Short  braces,  with  their  ends  sawed  at  an  angle  of  45°, 
can  also  be  fitted  at  the  corners,  where  the  corner-posts  meet  the 
sills  and  plates,  and  be  nailed  in  place  to  help  stiffen  the  frame. 

It  will  be  a  convenience  in  working  to  lay  the  floor  next.  For 
this  you  will  require  a  number  of  floor-joists.  If  the  building  is 
only  8'  or  10'  wide,  2"  x  4"  studding  will  do;  but  if  the  width  is 
as  great  as  12',  2"  x  6"  will  be  better.  These  are  to  be  placed  on 
edge  on  top  of  the  sills,  as  shown.  Place  one  at  each  end  against 
the  corner-posts  (to  which  it  can  be  nailed),  sawing  off  each  end 
so  that  it  will  be  flush  with  the  outside  of  the  sill.  Distribute 
these  floor-joists  so  that  they  will  be  about  18"  apart,  and  hold 
them  in  position  by  "  toeing  "  a  nail  through  them  at  each  end 

so  desirable  as  regards  strength,  its  only  advantage  consisting  in  the  readiness 
with  which  the  joints  can  be  made  by  simply  cutting  one  of  the  two  pieces 
shorter  than  the  other, 


House-Building  for  Beginners          267 

into  the  sill  beneath,  or  nailing  them  to  the  studding  when 
practicable.  Before  laying  any  of  these  floor-joists  trim  them  off 
on  the  under  edge,  which  will  rest  upon  the  sills,  if  necessary  to 
ensure  a  level  surface  on  top  for  the  floor.  Do  not  neglect  this, 
as  such  joists  frequently  vary  in  width.  Now  measure  the 
diagonals  again,  before  laying  the  floor-boards,  to  be  sure  that 
the  base  of  the  house  is  rectangular.  If  one  diagonal  is  longer 
than  the  other,  push  those  corners  towards  each  other  until  the 
diagonals  are  of  equal  length. 

Next  lay  the  floor-boards,  lengthways  of  the  building,  driving 
them  together  tightly  by  pounding  on  a  waste  piece,  and  nailing 
them  firmly  to  each  floor-joist  with  two  nails.  If  your  floor-boards 
are  not  long  enough  to  reach  the  entire  length  of  the  house,  you 
will  take  pains,  of  course,  to  saw  them  of  such  a  length  that  the 
ends  of  the  boards  will  meet  over  the  middle  of  one  of  the  floor- 
joists,  arranging  the  joints  so  that  they  will  alternate  or  come  at 
different  points  of  the  floor.  Saw  off  neatly  all  projecting  ends 
of  the  floor-boards. 

You  will  frequently  wish  to  use  more  force  in  driving  the  floor- 
boards to  a  tight  joint 
at  the  edges  than  you 
can  easily  apply  with 
the  hammer.  You  can 
easily  apply  all  the 
pressure  required  by 
using  two  short  boards 
on  the  principle  of  the 
toggle-joint.  Arrange  x 

these  as  shown  in  Fig.  * 

390,  one  end  resting 

against  a  temporary  cleat  or  any  firm  object  and  the  other  against 
the  edge  of  the  floor-board.  By  stepping  upon  this  toggle-joint 
at  its  apex,  the  floor-board  will  be  forced  into  place.  A  com- 
mon way  is  to  pry  the  board  into  place  with  a  chisel  driven  down 
at  the  edge. 


268          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

If  the  building  is  to  be  used  in  cold  weather,  by  all  means  lay 
double  flooring.  The  under  floor  can  be  of  cheaper  stock  and 
laid  less  carefully.  Between  the  two  lay  sheathing-  or  roofing- 
paper,  and  you  will  have  accomplished  much  towards  keeping  the 
room  warm. 

The  frame  is  now  ready  for  the  roof-timbers.  These  can  be  of 
2"  x  4"  studding,  except  the  ridge-board,  which  can  be  any  com- 
mon board  about  6"  wide. 

To  obtain  the  length  of  the  rafters  and  the  angle  at  which  the 
ends  are  to  be  cut,  you  can  easily  make  a  full-sized  pattern  on  the 
floor  by  simply  laying  off  a  right-angled  triangle  of  the  required 
height  and  base,  which  will  give  the  length  of  the  rafters  and  the 
angle  at  each  end,  after  cutting  off  a  little  piece  at  the  upper  end 
to  represent  one  half  the  thickness  of  the  ridge-board;  or  two 
pieces  of  the  rafter  stock  can  simply  be  laid  on  the  floor  in  the 
right  relative  positions  for  the  roof,  when  their  points  of  crossing 
can  be  marked  on  each  edge  and  the  bevel  marked  on  the  sides 
of  the  pieces.  The  bevel  at  the  lower  end  can  be  found  in  a 
similar  manner.  Take  off  enough  at  the  upper  end  to  allow  for 
one  half  the  thickness  of  the  ridge-board,  and  saw  off  one  rafter 
as  marked.  This  will  serve  for  a  pattern  by  which  to  mark  the 
others.  The  end  rafters  and  the  ridge-board  (which  should  first 
be  sawed  the  length  of  the  house)  can  easily  be  nailed  in  position 
by  two  persons,  one  at  each  end,  being  temporarily  stayed  in 
place  by  a  board  nailed  outside  (Fig.  389). 

The  roof-boards  can  be  nailed  either  lengthways,  or  up  and 
down.  If  the  former  way,  the  rafters  must  be  put  quite  near 
together  to  give  sufficient  support  to  the  boards.  If  the  latter, 
purlins,  or  lengthways  stringers,  should  be  added  between  the 
ridge-board  and  the  side-plates,  as  shown.  If  the  roof  is  to  be 
shingled,  the  boards  can  as  well  be  laid  lengthways — otherwise 
they  should  be  laid  up  and  down.  If  not  to  be  covered  in  any 
way,  matched-boards  (or  battened  joints)  should  be  used.  If 
well  painted,  such  a  roof  will  last  for  some  time,  but  shingling  is 
much  better. 


House-Building  for  Beginners          269 

Saddle-boards  should  be  put  along  the  ridge,  as  they  add  much 
to  the  tightness  and  durability  of  the  roof. 

The  sides  require  to  be  sheathed  before  covering  the  roof, 
leaving  open  spaces  for  the  door  and  windows.  Shorter  pieces 
can  be  used  above  and  below  these  spaces.  The  boarding  can 
be  put  on  vertically  and  battens  (narrow  boards  2"  or  3"  wide,  or 
strips  of  "  half-round  "  moulding)  nailed  over  the  cracks,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  391,  or,  of  course,  the  sides  can  be  clapboarded  or 
shingled  if  preferred,  in  which  case  the  boarding  can  be  put  on 
horizontally. 

The  door  can  be  made  of  boards,  cleated,  as  already  shown, 
or  one  can  be  bought  ready-made.  A  casing  should  be  nailed 
around  the  door-space,  previously  putting  at  the  bottom  a 
threshold  upon  which  the  lower  ends  of  the  casing  can  fit.  This 
you  will  at  once  understand  by  examining  the  arrangement  of 
these  details  in  almost  any  dwelling-house.  The  arrangement  of 
the  windows  (which  you  can  buy  ready-made  of  almost  any  de- 
sired shape  and  size)  does  not  differ  from  the  cases  already 
shown. 

The  smoke-pipe  can  be  arranged  as  shown  on  page  258. 

A  few  floor-beams  put  across  on  top  of  the  plates  and  wholly 
or  partly  floored  over  will  provide  a  loft  useful  for  storage.  If  the 
building  is  for  a  shop,  this  will  be  a  good  place  to  keep  lumber. 

The  roof  can  be  covered  according  to  the  methods  already 
shown,  but  shingling  will  be  much  better.  If  a  building  is  worth 
shingling  at  all,  it  is  usually  best  to  use  a  good  quality  of  shingles. 
The  cheapest  ones  are  apt  to  be  unsatisfactory  for  a  permanent 
building,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  for  such  structures  as  these  it 
is  not  necessary  to  get  an  extra  quality,  for  some  knots  or  defects 
at  the  thin  ends  where  they  will  be  covered  by  two  or  three  layers 
may  do  no  harm.  Cedar  shingles  are  better  than  spruce. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  lay  roofing-paper  over  the  roof  before 
shingling.  Begin  the  shingling  at  the  eaves  and  work  upward. 
Lay  a  row  the  length  of  the  roof,  letting  the  butts  slightly  over- 
hang the  edge.  Directly  on  top  of  this  row  lay  another,  breaking 


270          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

joints  with  those  underneath;  that  is,  lay  the  first  row  double, 
taking  pains  that  the  spaces  between  the  shingles  of  the  lower 
layer  are  covered  by  the  shingles  of  the  upper  layer.  Leave  a 
slight  space  (perhaps  $"  to  I")  between  the  shingles  in  laying 
them.  This  gives  room  for  swelling,  and  allows  the  water  to  run 
off  freely.  If 'the  edges  are  close  together  at  the  lower  end,  the 
tendency  is  to  dam  up  these  water-courses  and  retain  the  moist- 
ure, which  is  injurious.  Some  people  pare  off  the  edges  to  make 
the  butt-ends  narrower,  in  order  to  obviate  this;  but  simply  lay- 
ing the  shingles  slightly  apart  answers  the  purpose.  Fasten  each 
shingle  with  two  shingle  nails  (one  near  each  edge,  within  per- 
haps i"),  far  enough  up  from  the  butt  to  be  covered  by  the  next 
row  of  shingles.  Common  shingles  can  be  laid  about  4^"  to  the 
weather,  that  is,  with  that  portion  of  the  length  exposed  at  the 
butt.  If  shingles  of  extra  length  are  used  this  distance  can  be 
varied  accordingly.  Lay  the  butts  of  each  row  by  a  chalk-line 
or  against  the  edge  of  a  narrow  board,  which  can  be  adjusted 
and  temporarily  held  in  place  by  two  strips  nailed  to  the  board 
and  to  the  ridge  of  the  roof.  The  upper  ends  of  the  top  row  of 
shingles  can  be  trimmed  off  and  saddle-boards  can  be  put  on  at 
the  top,  letting  the  edge  of  one  overlap  the  other. 

It  is  doubtful  economy  to  paint  shingles  after  they  are  laid. 
The  paint  tends  to  clog  the  spaces  between  them.  It  is  better 
to  dip  them  in  paint  before  laying.  A  much  better  way  is  to  dip 
them  in  some  one  of  the  prepared  "  creosote  stains,"  which  can 
be  had  in  a  great  variety  of  colours.  These  are  excellent,  al- 
though, except  to  obtain  some  desired  colour  effect,  it  is  hardly 
worth  while  to  use  any  preparation  on  the  roofs  of  such  buildings 
as  these.  Cut  nails  are  considered  better  than  wire  nails  for 
shingling,  on  the  ground  of  durability.  Take  pains  to  keep  the 
lines  of  the  rows  straight  and  at  equal  distances  apart. 

For  the  painting,  see  Painting,  in  Part  V. 

If  this  building  is  for  a  workshop,  various  suggestions  about  the 
interior  arrangement  will  be  found  in  Part  I. 


''  The  cottage  Is  one  of  the  embellishments  of  natural  scenery  which  deserves  attentive  C6n- 
sideration.  It  is  beautiful  always,  and  everywhere  ;  whether  looking  out  of  the  woody  dingle 
with  its  eye-like  window,  and  sending  up  the  motion  of  azure  smoke  between  the  silver  trunks 
of  aged  trees  ;  or  grouped  among  the  bright  cornfields  of  the  fruitful  plain  ;  or  forming  grey 
clusters  along  the  slope  of  the  mountain  side,  the  cottage  always  gives  the  idea  of  a  thing  to  be 
beloved:  a  quiet  life-giving  voice,  that  is  as  peaceful  as  silence  itself." — RUSKIN,  The  Poetry 
of  A  rchitecture. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

SIMPLE   SUMMER   COTTAGES 

"  Cottage  Row." — The  little  houses  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying illustrations'  afford  excellent  examples  of  what  can 
be  done  by  the  beginner.  These  were  built  by  boys,  and 
form,  with  others,  a  most  interesting  little  village  or  street, 
known  as  ' '  Cottage  Row. ' '  They  are  small,  but  have  many 
of  the  details  of  larger  houses.  They  are  shingled  and  clap- 
boarded,  have  regular  doors  and  windows,  and  are  very  at- 
tractively fitted  up  inside  with  curtains,  cupboards,  shelves, 
tables,  chairs,  lounges,  bookcases,  and  other  articles  of 
furniture.  The  walls  are  hung  or  covered  with  prettily 
figured  cretonne  or  calico. 

These  little  structures  are  good  models  for  boys'  first 
attempts  at  house-building,  in  that  they  are  simple,  modest, 
and  unpretentious,  and  have  a  homelike  air  which  does  not 
pertain  to  many  more  elaborate  and  pretentious  houses. 
The  visitor  is  attracted  by  their  neat,  trim,  inviting  appear- 
ance, and  wishes  to  enter. 

Houses  of  this  character  can  easily  be  made  by  two  or 
more  boys  working  together;  and  by  the  united  forces  of  a 
number  of  boys  a  very  attractive  little  village  can  be  built 
(and  much  simple  carpentry  be  learned  at  the  same  time), 
in  which  many  pleasant  hours  can  be  spent. 

Such  houses  as  these  can  be  framed  and  put  together 

1  Obtained  through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Charles  H.  Bradley,  Superintendent 
of  the  admirable  Farm  School  on  Thompson's  Island,  in  Boston  Harbour, 
where  this  little  village  was  built. 

271 


272          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

without  difficulty  by  the  methods  already  shown.  It  will 
not  add  very  much  to  the  expense  to  have  the  parts  of  the 
frame  which  show  on  the  inside  of  the  house  planed  by 
machine,  and  this  will  much  improve  the  appearance  of  the 
interior.  Shingling  the  roofs,  putting  casing  around  the 
windows  and  doors  and  at  the  corners  of  the  houses,  and 
clapboarding  or  shingling  the  sides,  adds  much  to  the  at- 


tractiveness of  such  small  structures,  as  you  can  see  from 
the  illustrations. 

The  windows  and  casings  you  can  buy  ready-made,  or  the 
latter  you  can  make  yourself.  The  doors  and  casings  you 
can  also  buy,  or  make.  The  door-casings  and  window- 
casings  should  be  nailed  in  place  before  the  sides  are  clap- 
boarded.  The  tops  of  these  casings  should  always  be 
protected  by  strips  of  sheet  lead,  the  upper  edges  of  which 


Simple  Summer  Cottages 


273 


are  slipped  up  under  the  clapboarding  (Fig.  39oa),  thus 
covering  the  crack  where  the  casing  joins  the  side  of  the 
building  and  shedding  the  water — on  the  same  principle  as 
shown  in  Figs.  384  and  385.  This  is  important,  as  the  rain 
will  drive  through  such  cracks,  even  though 
they  seem  very  tight.  Tonguing  and  grooving 
can  be  used  in  such  cases,  but  flashing  with 
lead  is  a  simpler  process.  The  same  precau- 
tion should  always  be  taken  where  roofs  or 
attachments  join  a  building  in  such  a  way  as 
to  expose  a  crack  through  which  the  water 
can  leak.  Zinc,  or  even  tin,  can  be  used, 
but  are  inferior  to  lead.  The  corner-boards 
and  the  water-table  (the  horizontal  board  at 
the  bottom  of  the  house)  should  also  be 
nailed  in  place.  The  latter  should  have  the 
top  edge  slightly  bevelled,  to  shed  the  water. 
All  these  pieces  having  been  carefully  nailed 
in  place,  the  clapboarding  or  shingling  of  the 
sides  can  be  done. 

It  will  cost  but  little  to  sheath  the  outside  with  sheathing- 
paper,  and  the  house  will  be  much  tighter  and  dryer.  This 
should  be  put  on  under  the  casings,  corner-boards,  etc.,  so 
as  to  avoid  a  crack  where  these  boards  and  the  clapboards 
or  shingles  meet. 

Laying  clapboards,  unlike  shingling,  is  begun  at  the  top.  Lay 
the  upper  row  by  a  line,  as  in  shingling,  keeping  the  clapboards 
in  place  by  a  few  nails  in  the  upper  part  only.  Then  slip  the 
clapboards  for  the  next  row  up  from  underneath  under  the  first 
row  until  only  the  desired  amount  of  the  clapboards  is  exposed. 
The  first  row  can  then  be  firmly  nailed  near  the  lower  edge  with 
clapboard  nails.  This  will  hold  the  next  row  in  position  while 
the  third  row  is  put  in  place,  and  so  on.  The  thin  edge  of 


39oa. 


274          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

the  upper  row  can  be  finally  covered  with  a  strip  of  board  or 
moulding.  The  clapboarding  can  be  continued  to  the  very 
bottom  of  the  house.  If,  however,  a  water-table  is  used  at  the 
bottom,  the  lower  edge  of  the  bottom  row  of  clapboards  should 
be  slightly  bevelled  to  fit  closely  down  on  the  slanting  upper  edge 
of  the  water-table.  Be  careful  to  lay  the  clapboards  in  line  and 
at  equal  distances  apart,  as  variations  in  the  alignment  are  quite 


noticeable.  Examine  the  clapboards  of  any  house  on  which 
they  are  used.  In  arranging  them  break  joints  at  the  ends,  that 
is,  do  not  have  the  joints  of  one  row  directly  under,  or  very  near, 
those  of  the  rows  above  and  below.  Do  not  saw  the  ends  by 
eye.  Mark  them  accurately  with  the  try-square  and  knife  and 
saw  them  carefully  with  a  fine  saw,  trying  to  make  as  close  joints 
as  possible. 

A  fair  quality  of  clapboards  should  be  used,  but  a  few  defects 
near  the  thin  edges  which  are  to  be  covered  may  do  no  serious 
harm  for  such  structures  as  these. 


Simple  Summer  Cottages 


275 


When  you  begin  to  attempt  more  ambitious  structures, 
such  as  modest  summer  cottages  for  camping  in  vacations, 
for  hunting-  or  fishing-lodges,  or  for  family  use, — such 
houses  as  are  often  undertaken  by  older  boys  or  men  with 
a  taste  for  amateur  carpentry, — there  are  a  number  of  things 
to  be  considered  before  beginning  to  do  any  actual  work. 

Do  not  begin  a  house  you  cannot  pay  for.     If  you  find 


that  the  more  elaborate  plans  suggested  will  exceed  your 
means,  do  not  let  them  tempt  you  to  run  in  debt,  but  con- 
tent yourself  with  the  simplest  plan.1  You  will  find  it  per- 
fectly comfortable,  and  whenever  you  can  afford  the  expense 
you  can  easily  add  to  it  and  improve  it.  That  is  the  best 
principle  to  go  on,  morally  as  well  as  financially. 

1  If  that  is  too  expensive,  some  of  those  given  in  the  preceding  pages  will 
probably  answer  your  purpose. 


276          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

In  addition  to  points  already  spoken  of  in  the  preceding 
pages,  bear  in  mind,  in  making  your  plans,  to  use  only 
simple  forms  for  your  first  efforts.  Avoid  dormer  windows 
and  complicated  roofs  (especially  combinations  producing 
"  valleys")  and  bay-windows,  and  the  like,  at  first.  Such 
arrangements  add  many  difficulties  for  the  beginner.  When 
you  can  make  a  plain,  simple  building,  with  everything  snug 


and  tight,  and  can  lay  a  plain  roof  that  will  not  leak,  you 
can  then  attempt  such  variations  of  form  with  a  fair  chance 
of  success,  but  do  not  be  too  ambitious  in  your  first  at- 
tempts. A  simple  piazza  can  often  be  added  to  good 
advantage,  if  desired. 

It  is  well  to  ascertain  the  sizes  of  the  ready-made  doors 
and  windows  which  you  can  buy  in  the  place  where  your 
house  is  to  be  built,  before  drawing  your  plans. 

If  there  is  a  choice  of  situations  in  which  to  place  your 


Simple  Summer  Cottages  277 

house,  a  few  suggestions  about  the  selection  of  a  site  may 
be  of  value. 

If  you  are  going  to  build  in  the  mountains,  or  the  pine  woods, 
or  on  rocky  islands  or  promontories  in  the  ocean, — in  places 
where  there  are  almost  no  unsanitary  conditions,  where  the 
climate  is  so  invigourating,  the  air  so  purifying, — there  is  no  need 
to  think  of  many  precautions  important  in  a  cleared  and  settled 
country.  As  much  sunlight  and  circulation  of  air  as  you  can 
get,  pure  drinking  water,  and  the  simple  precaution  of  not  build- 
ing in  a  hollow  or  on  the  edge  of  a  swamp,  are  about  all  the  sani- 
tary points  you  need  consider  in  such  places. 

In  selecting  a  site  in  any  ordinary  country  or  seashore  region, 
first  make  sure  above  all  things  of  dryness,  sunlight,  pure  air,  and 
pure  water. 

Avoid  building  a  cottage  for  regular  occupancy  in  a  dense 
thicket,  not  merely  on  account  of  the  mosquitoes  and  other  in- 
sects, but  because  the  thicket  shuts  out  the  sun  and  cuts  off  the 
free  circulation  of  air  which  there  should  always  be  in  summer 
around  and  through  a  house.  Of  course,  for  shooting  or  fishing, 
a  lodge,  camp,  or  cabin  must  be  built  wherever  required  by  the 
circumstances.  Sunshine  is  very  important  in  securing  dryness 
and  in  purifying  the  air. 

You  will  naturally  reject  wet  land.  Avoid  also  soil  that  retains 
moisture,1  even  though  it  may  not  be  actually  wet  to  step  upon, 
for  land  saturated  with  moisture  may  be  the  unsuspected  source 
of  serious  diseases.  There  is  air  in  the  ground,  which  may  be  the 
means  of  spreading  dampness  and  foul  gases. 

Do  not  place  your  house  in  a  depression  or  in  the  bottom  of  a 
valley  where  dampness  is  likely  to  settle.  At  the  seashore  there 
will,  of  course,  be  fogs  from  the  ocean  at  certain  times  and  places, 

1  "  Soils  which  are  naturally  porous,  from  which  rain  rapidly  disappears,  are 
known  to  be  the  healthiest  for  the  sites  of  houses.  In  this  the  action  of  the 
soil  oxidizes  all  organic  impurities,  the  resulting  product  is  washed  away  by  the 
rain,  and  the  soil  remains  sweet  and  wholesome." — LATHAM, 


278          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

but  they  are  not  harmful,  except  to  navigation;  and  at  the  mount- 
ains more  or  less  dampness  at  night  is  very  common.  Do  not 
try  to  find  a  place  where  there  is  no  dampness  at  all,  but  except 
at  the  seashore  or  mountains  reject  situations  where  there  are 
mists  at  night,  avoiding  particularly  the  vicinity  of  wet  marshes 
and  swamps,  stagnant  pools  of  fresh  water,  boggy  ponds,  sluggish 
rivers  and  brooks,  on  account  of  the  malarious  vapours  which  are 
liable  to  hang  over  them. 

Do  not  try  to  keep  cool  by  hiding  your  house  where  the  sun 
will  not  shine  upon  it.  The  southern  or  south-eastern  slope  of  a 
hill  usually  affords  a  most  desirable  site  as  regards  both  coolness 
and  sunlight.  If  you  can  also  find  a  site  on  the  top  of  a  little 
mound  or  knoll,  so  as  to  secure  the  free  drainage  of  the  water  in 
every  direction,  it  will  be  advantageous. 

The  main  points  in  regard  to  water  are  to  have  it  pure  and  to 
have  plenty  of  it. 

In  regard  to  pure  water,  and  pure  air  also,  if  you  are  planning 
to  build  in  a  little  settlement  or  near  other  cottages  the  question 
of  drainage  (sewerage)  from  the  neighbouring  houses  becomes  of 
the  utmost  importance.  A  breeze  from  the  sea,  the  mountains, 
or  the  pine  woods  is  pure  in  itself  and  to  a  certain  degree  a 
scavenger,  but  do  not  throw  upon  it  the  work  of  purifying  a 
naturally  unhealthful  situation. 

This  matter  of  drainage  you  can  arrange  for  yourself  on  your 
own  land,  but  the  arrangements  of  your  neighbours  you  will  have 
to  take  as  you  find  them;  therefore  guard  carefully  against  con- 
tamination of  your  drinking  water  and  of  the  air  through  proximity 
to  the  cesspools,  privies,  or  sink  drains  of  the  neighbouring  cot- 
tages. Exactly  how  far  a  well  or  spring  should  be  from  such 
sources  of  pollution  it  is  impossible  to  state  without  knowledge 
of  the  particular  spot,  for  it  depends  upon  the  slope  of  the 
ground,  the  kind  of  soil,  the  direction  of  the  underlying  strata, 
and  other  circumstances.  In  some  cases  a  distance  of  twenty 
feet  might  be  perfectly  safe,  while  in  others  two  hundred  would 
be  highly  dangerous.  One  hundred  feet  or  more  is  near  enough 


Simple  Summer  Cottages  279 

under  ordinary  conditions.  There  is  no  greater  danger  than  that 
from  defective  sewerage,  and  the  danger  usually  begins  before  the 
senses  are  aware  that  there  is  any  trouble.  This  subject  is  better 
understood  now  than  formerly,  but  still,  until  the  subject  forces 
itself  upon  their  attention,  the  majority  of  people  pay  but  little 
regard  to  it.  It  is  a  fact  well  established  among  medical  men 
that  some  of  the  worst  forms  of  sickness  are  nothing  but  filth 
diseases,  to  which  the  dwellers  in  summer  cottages  are  sometimes 
even  more  exposed  than  those  in  town  houses.  Remember  that 
air  as  well  as  water  is  an  active  agent  for  spreading  the  germs  of 
disease. 

As  to  the  position  in  which  to  place  the  house  itself  after  the 
spot  has  been  chosen  much  will  depend  on  circumstances.  Con- 
sider the  sun,  the  prevailing  winds,  and  the  views  in  relation  to 
the  rooms,  the  windows,  and  the  piazza..  An  unsheltered  piazza. 
facing  the  west  is  apt  to  be  very  hot  at  the  time  of  day  you  are 
likely  to  use  it  the  most,  though,  of  course,  the  wind  or  other 
considerations  may  make  such  a  position  desirable. 

The  subject  of  the  necessary  underpinning  for  such  simple 
structures  as  are  here  shown  has  been  already  treated  in  the 
preceding  chapter.  In  most  cases  you  will  find  posts  set  in 
the  ground,  as  there  described,  an  excellent  way  (except, 
of  course,  upon  rocky  ground),  but  brick  or  stone  piers  are 
almost  always  more  desirable,  if  you  can  afford  the  cost  of 
the  materials  (which  can  be  obtained  almost  anywhere),  and 
the  work  of  laying  piers  for  such  a  purpose  is  not  very  diffi- 
cult; but  whether  to  use  posts  or  piers  should,  of  course, 
depend  upon. the  character  and  permanence  of  the  building. 

Having  fixed  upon  the  position  of  the  building,  proceed 
to  stake  it  out  (including  the  piazza,  if  there  is  to  be  one), 
as  shown  in  the  chapter  immediately  preceding. 

The  foundation  being  ready,  the  frame  is  next  to  be 
considered.  You  have  probably  noticed  in  the  old  houses 


280          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

built  by  our  forefathers  their  massive  construction, — the 
great  size  of  the  timbers  and  the  way  in  which  they  are 
heavily  braced  and  mortised  and  pinned  together.  With 
the  modern  facilities  for  cutting  wood  into  small  pieces  by 
machinery  has  sprung  up  a  style  of  building  of  which  you 
will  see  examples  on  every  hand,  and  which  when  carried  to 
its  extreme  in  the  cheapest  houses  makes  a  structure  so 
flimsy  that  it  is  literally  held  together  by  nothing  but  nails. 
A  scientific  modification  (adapted  to  modern  conditions)  of 
the  old-fashioned  "  braced  "  structure,  retaining  its  ad- 
vantages and  remedying  its  defects,  is  undoubtedly  superior 
(expense  being  no  object]  to  a  "  balloon  "  frame  that  will  only 
hold  together  by  having  the  outside  boarding  nailed  on  to 
it  as  fast  as  it  is  put  up.  If  the  more  cheaply  built  "  bal- 
loon "  structures  of  to-day  had  been  put  up  in  the  days  of 
our  Pilgrim  or  Puritan  ancestors  not  a  stick  of  them  would 
now  be  standing.  A  lighter  arrangement  than  the  old- 
fashioned  frame  and  one  more  easily  built  is,  however,  in 
our  day  probably  better  adapted  for  the  construction  of  a 
large  class  of  buildings  of  moderate  size  and  moderate  cost. 

This  is  said  about  braced  and  framed  structures  that  you 
may  not  be  led  to  think  that  the  light  construction  advo- 
cated here  for  you  would  be  the  best  for  all  wooden  struct- 
ures. Your  house  will  be  so  small,  and  the  construction  of 
a  braced  and  mortised  frame  is  so  difficult  for  amateurs,  that 
a  lighter  and  easier  arrangement  will  be  best  for  you  to  use, 
however  ill-suited  it  might  be  for  a  large  mansion  or  ware- 
house. This  system  of  construction  will  be  perfectly  satis- 
factory and  sufficiently  durable  for  a  little  summer  cottage. 

A  little  house  well  suited  for  summer  use,  or  for  a  winter 
camp,  is  shown  in  Fig.  391. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 


282          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Hinges,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and 
look  up  any  other  references. 

The  main  house  (which  contains  the  general  living-room)  can 
be  framed  as  shown  in  Fig.  389.  The  "lean-to"  addition 
(which  contains  the  kitchen)  can  be  framed  as  shown  in  Fig. 
371.  If  both  parts  are  built  at  one  time,  only  four  sills  should  be 
used  for  the  entire  structure,  and  the  corner-posts  and  upright 
studding  of  the  "lean-to"  on  the  side  next  the  main  house 
should  be  omitted. 

The  sides  of  this  house  are  battened,  /.  e.,  the  joints  of  the 
vertical  sheathing  are  covered  with  strips  nailed  over  them — in 
this  case  with  strips  of  "  half-round  "  moulding.  This  is  an  easy 
and  quite  inexpensive  way  to  finish  the  outside,  and  while  hardly 
equal  to  clapboarding  or  shingling  in  some  respects  is  a  very  good 
way  for  structures  of  this  kind. 

As  you  will  see  from  the  illustration,  the  rafters  of  both  the 
house  and  the  ell  project  or  overhang  at  the  eaves.  This  is  not 
really  a  necessity  for  any  structure,  and  you  will  sometimes  see 
quite  large  buildings  without  any  overhang  of  the  roof  whatever, 
but,  as  a  rule,  it  improves  the  appearance  of  the  house,  and  is  a 
help  in  shedding  the  water  farther  from  the  walls.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  let  the  rafters  project  at  their  lower  ends,  making  all 
project  equally,  and  to  nail  a  board  to  their  ends,  as  shown.  The 
overhang  at  the  ends  of  the  house  can  be  arranged  in  the  same 
way,  short  pieces  of  studding  being  nailed  in  the  outside  angle 
of  the  roof  and  ends,  with  strips  nailed  upon  these. 

If  the  ground  slopes,  as  in  this  case,  lattice-work  is  good  to 
cover  the  space  below  the  sills. 

The  remaining  details  have  been  treated  in  the  preceding  cases. 

The  simple  structure  shown  in  Fig.  392  is  suitable  for 
various  uses,  and  can  be  constructed  in  the  way  already 
described. 

The  piazza  is,  however,  a  new  problem,  but  not  a  very  difficult 


Simple  Summer  Cottages 


283 


one  after  the  processes  already  described.  A  simple  way,  suited 
for  rustic  structures  or  rough  cabins,  is  to  set  the  piazza,  posts  in 
the  ground  to  a  depth  of  two  or  three  feet,  sawing  the  tops  off  at 
the  height  of  the  piazza,  roof,  and  simply  nailing  a  system  of  floor- 
timbers  for  the  piazza  floor  to  these  posts  and  the  side  of  the 
house  and  flooring  it  with  boards,  while  the  roof  of  the  piazza  is 


FIG.  392. 

supported  on  the  tops  of  the  posts.  This  is  not  a  good  way, 
however,  for  a  carefully  built  house. 

A  strip  of  joist  or  plank  can  be  spiked  to  the  side  of  the  house 
at  the  proper  height,  and  to  this  can  be  nailed  a  system  of  floor- 
timbers  for  the  piazza  floor  (see  page  287),  the  outer  corners  and 
middle  resting  upon  stones  or  posts  in  the  same  way  as  the  rest  of 
the  building.  This  is  then  floored  crossways,  the  whole  having  a 
slight  slant  outwards  to  shed  the  water.  Upon  this  platform  are 
raised  the  piazza  posts,  and  at  the  top  of  these  is  nailed  a  roof 
system,  which  is  covered  with  boards  in  the  same  way  as  the 
floor  beneath.  Enough  slant  should  be  given  the  roof  to  enable 
it  to  shed  the  water  freely. 

The  other  details  do  not  differ  from  those  already  described. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking ^  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Hinges,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and 
look  up  any  other  references. 


284          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


An  excellent  form  for  a  small  structure  is  that  shown  in 
Fig.  393.  This  has  a  hip-roof,  which  is  the  only  essential 
difference  between  it  and  the  types  already  shown. 


FIG.  393. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Hinges,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and 
look  up  any  other  references. 

This  roof  is  somewhat  more  difficult  to  make  well  than  the 
simple  kinds,  but  is  not  beyond  the  skill  of  the  amateur.  Up  to 

the  plates  the  construction  is 
the  same  as  that  already 
shown.  In  this  roof,  however, 
the  ridge-board  is  short  and 
the  end  rafters  (called  hip- 
rafters)  incline  towards  it 
(Fig-  393a)-  .  Laying  out 
the  upper  bevels  of  these 

rafters    will     require    careful 

.  * 

planning.       After    you    have 

succeeded  in  laying  them  out,  cutting  the  bevels  at  the  ends, 


Simple  Summer  Cottages 


285 


and  fitting  them  in  place,  the   shorter   jack-rafters   can  readily 
be  put  in  place. 


FIG.  395. 

The  shingling  is  more  difficult  at  the  corners  than  in  the  other 
roofs  shown,  as  the  shingles  must  be  cut.  It  is  well  to  cover  each 
hip  with  a  line  of  shingles,  laid  parallel  to  the  hip  and  along  each 


286          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

side  of  it.     Boards  can  be  used  to  cover  the  hips,  as  shown  in 
one  of  the  illustrations  of  "  Cottage  Row." 

Another  form,  embodying  the  same  roof  construction,  but 
larger  and  correspondingly  more  difficult,  is  shown  in  Fig.  394. 

A  small  cottage  for  summer  use  (Fig.  395)  is  not  more 
difficult  than  the  cases  already  shown,  except  in  the  matter 
of  size. 


FlG.    396.       END    ELEVATION. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Hinges,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and 
look  up  any  other  references. 


Simple  Summer  Cottages 


287 


The  process  of  staking  out  and  setting  the  foundation  has  been 
already  described  under  A  Workshop,  pages  259-264. 

The  frame  can  be  built  upon  the  same  general  principle  as 
shown  in  Fig.  389,  the  dimensions  of  the  stock  depending  upon 
the  size  of  the  house  ;  but  the  directions  given  in  these  chapters 
are  intended  only  for  small  structures.  The  sills  should  be 
4"  x  6"  or  6"  x  6",  the  corner-posts  can  be  4"  x  4"  or  4"  x  6,"  the 
floor-timbers  and  rafters  2"  x  6",  although,  if  the  house  is  quite 
small,  2"  x  4"  will  do  for  the  rafters,  which  can  be  braced  by 
"  collar  beams,"  or  simply  horizontal  pieces  of  board  nailed 
across  in  the  upper  part  of  the  roof. 

Arrange  the  studding  according  to  the  doors  and  windows. 
As  this  house  is  not  to  be  lathed  and  plastered,  it  is  not  essential 
that  the  studding  should  be  at  any  exact  distance  apart. 

The  essential  difference  between  the  frame  of  this  house  and 
that  shown  in  Fig.  389  consists  in  the  projection  of  the  second- 
story  floor-timbers  over  the  piazza,  the  ends  resting  upon  an 
outer  plate  on  top  of  the  piazza  posts  (Fig.  396).  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  attic  floor- 
beams,  the  rafters,  and  the 
side-plates  is  shown  in  Fig. 

397- 

The  frame  for  the  piazza 
floor  can  be  arranged  as 
follows:  Fasten  a  strip  of 
2*  x  4"  joist  along  the  side, 
spiking  it  through  into  the 
sill.  On  this  fasten  an  ar- 
rangement of  floor-timbers, 
such  as  is  shown  in  Fig. 

•398,  the  inner    cross-beam 

'  FIG.  397. 

and     lengthways    stringers 

resting  in  gains,  as  shown  in  Fig.  399.  The  details  of  the  ar- 
rangement can  be  varied  according  to  the  height  you  wish  the 
piazza  floor  to  be  relatively  to  the  floor  inside. 


288          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

For  a  quite  small  structure,  or  for  a  temporary  one,  it  will  an- 
swer to  make  this  piazza-floor  system  of  2"  x  6"  stock  simply  sawed 


FIG.  398. 

square  and  spiked  together,  on  the  principle  shown  in  Fig.  378, 
but  for  a  good  house  which  you  wish  to  be  permanent,  it  is  better 

to  put  a  little   more  labour 
into  the  piazza.. 

Another  way  is  to  have  the 
main  sills  extend  under  the 
piazza  as  well  as  under 
the  house  proper.  This  is  a 
more  thorough  way  as  re- 
gards stiffness,  but  extra 
pains  must  be  taken  to  pie- 
vent  the  water  working  down 
on  the  sills  where  the  house 
and  piazza,  join,  as  this  will 
FIG.  399.  tend  to  rot  this  portion  of  the 

sills.    With  this  arrangement  of  sills  an  extra  sill,  or  cross-sill, 


Simple  Summer  Cottages  289 

should  be  added  under  the  juncture  of  the  body  of  the  house  and 
the  piazza,.  The  ends  of  this  sill  can  rest  in  gains  cut  in  the  end- 
sills,  and  the  middle  can  be  supported  by  one  or  more  posts. 

For  the  stairs,  which  can  be  put  wherever  you  wish,  take  two 
pieces  of  plank,  2"  x  9"  or  10",  and  of  sufficient  length.  Having 
determined  the  points  for  the  top  and  the  bottom  of  the  stairs  (by 
laying  off  on  the  floor  in  the  same  way  as  for  the  rafters,  page 
268),  lay  one  of  the  planks  on  the  floor  in  the  proper  position  and 
mark  the  notches  for  the  steps  and  the  bevels  for  the  ends. 
After  these  "  notch-boards  "  or  string  pieces  have  been  cut  and 
put  in  place,  you  can  easily  get  out  and  nail  on  the  "  risers" 
and  "  treads."  Examination  of  any  common  stairs  will  show 
you  how  to  arrange  these  details  without  difficulty.  You  can 
mark  on  a  stick  the  height  from  the  top  of  the  lower  floor  to  the 
top  of  the  upper.  Divide  this  distance,  on  the  stick,  into  as 
many  parts  as  you  wish  to  have  steps,  and  you  can  use  the  stick 
as  a  gauge  by  which  to  determine  the  points  for  sawing  the 
notches  for  the  steps.1  It  is  best  to  have  the  treads  not  less 
than  9"  wide,  and  10"  is  better,  while  7^"  or  8"  will  do  for  the 
risers.  A  "header,"  or  cross-piece,  must  be  securely  fastened 
between  the  second-story  floor-beams  where  they  are  cut  off  to 
make  the  opening  at  the  head  of  the  stairs. 

The  partitions  inside  require  no  directions,  being  simply  made 
of  studding  to  which  sheathing  is  nailed. 

The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  preceding 
cases,  and  the  interior  fittings  you  can  arrange  without  further 
instructions.  A  regular  brick  chimney  will,  of  course,  be  a  desir- 
able feature  if  you  can  afford  it. 

By  the  slight  modification  of  having  the  roof  overhang  on 

1  To  find  the  number  of  steps  for  a  given  situation,  find  the  height,  as  just 
shown,  from  floor  to  floor,  102"  for  example.  Assume,  for  trial,  a  satisfactory 
height  for  each  step,  as  7".  Divide  102  by  7,  which  gives  14^  for  the  number 
of  steps.  To  make  the  number  even,  call  it  14,  and  you  have  only  to  divide 
102  by  14  to  get  the  exact  height  of  each  step. 
19 


290          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

each  side,  two  piazzas  will  be  provided  and  space  given  for 
larger  chambers  (Fig.  40x3). 

The  construction  differs  from  that  of  the  design  just  shown  only 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  framing  for  the  second  story. 


FIG.  400. 

The  floor-beams  of  the  second  story  will  overlap  at  each  end 
and  the  rafters  be  correspondingly  longer,  and  the  end-plates  can 
be  omitted  and  the  end-studding  continued  up  to  the  rafters,  ex- 
cept where  interrupted  by  the  window-spaces.  This  house,  like 
the  others,  can  be  clapboarded,  shingled,  battened,  or  sheathed, 
as  you  may  prefer. 


CHAPTER   XIV 


A   FEW   SIMPLE   STRUCTURES 

Summer-houses. — A  form  which  is  quite  easy  to  build, 
and  which  is  attractive  when  overrun  with  vines,  is  shown 
in  front  elevation  (Fig.  401)  and  in  side  elevation  (Fig.  402). 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any 
other  references. 

The  construction  is  simple.  The  frame  can  be  of  2"  x  3*  stock 
(planed),  except  the  sills,  which  had  best  not  be  smaller  than 
2"  x  4"  (on  edge).  Cross  floor-beams  can  be  inserted,  as  in  the 
floors  of  the  little  houses  first  shown. 

The  upright  members  can,  however,  rest  upon  posts  set  in  the 
ground  and  the  floor  be  dispensed 
with.     Where  the   parts   of   the 
frame  cross  they  can  be  halved 
(see  Halving}.    The  square  joints ' 
can    be   nailed    together.       The 
roof    can   be   solid    or   made  of 
slats  several  inches  apart,  resting 
upon  rafters. 

The  strips  for  the  lattice-work 
can  be  about  f"  thick,  and  from 
•J"  to  i£"  wide.  These  can  be  got 
out  at  any  mill  in  long  or  short 
strips,  which  you  can  cut  off  as 
you  put  them  on.  Do  not  lay 


FIG.  401. 


them  too  closely  together.     Put  one  strip  on  at  the  desired  angle. 
Then  cut  off  one  or  more  short  pieces  by  which  to  gauge  the 

291 


292          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


distance  for  laying  the  next  strip,  or  get  out  a  piece  of  light  thin 
boarding  of  the  width  of  the  space  between  the  lattice  strips  and 
hold  it  beside  each  strip  as  a  guide  by  which  to  lay  the  next  one. 

This  lattice-work,  although  each  strip  is  so  slight,  will  give  the 
frame  great  stiffness  and  strength. 

The  joints  of  such  framework  as  this  should  properly  be  painted 
before  being  put  together  (see  Painting),  and  it  also  is  a  more 
thorough  and  neater  way  to  lay  the  lattice-work  strips  on  supports 


FIG.  402. 

of  some  kind  and  paint  them  before  putting  on.     They  will  then 
only  require  touching  up  with  paint  after  the  house  is  done. 

The  rustic  summer-house,  or  arbour,  made  of  sticks  in 
their  natural  form,  shown  in  Fig.  403,  is  in  some  respects 
more  difficult  to  build  than  the  preceding,  because  the  ends 
of  so  many  of  the  pieces  have  to  be  cut  at  an  oblique  angle. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Hinges,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and 
look  up  any  other  references. 

First  make  a  platform,  as  for  the  other  floors,  or  the  upright 
posts  can  rest  upon  posts  set  in  the  ground  and  the  floor  be  dis- 


A  Few  Simple  Structures 


293 


pensed  with.  Plates  can  be  placed  on  top  of  the  posts,  and 
rafters  extend  from  the  plates  at  the  top  of  each  post  to  the  apex 
of  the  roof.  These  plates  and  rafters  will  make  a  framework  on 
which  to  nail  the  sticks  which  form  the  roof  covering.  The  re- 
maining details  are  apparent.  Much  care  is  required,  however, 
to  put  this  house  together  properly,  not  merely  in  cutting  the 
angles  at  the  joints,  but 
in  sighting,  measuring, 
and  testing  to  ensure  its 
coming  together  without 
twisting  or  winding. 


Instead  of  making 
this  house  six-sided,  it 
can,  if  desired,  be 
made  rectangular  like 
the  preceding  one,  but 
keeping  the  same  ar- 
rangement of  the  de- 
tails. This  makes  a 
very  pretty  design, 
and  in  respect  to  join- 
ing the  pieces  is  much 
easier  to  make.  An- 
other pretty  plan  is  to 
build  a  hexagonal,  octagonal,  or  circular  house  of  this  sort 
around  a  tree  trunk.  If  the  roof  is  fitted  too  snugly  to  the 
tree  trunk,  the  growth  of  the  latter  may  split  the  roof  apart 
before  the  rest  of  the  house  is  past  its  usefulness,  so  you 
should  arrange  this  part  to  allow  for  the  growth  of  the  tree. 

Bath-house. — A  plain  bath-house  (Fig.  404)  can  well  be 
made  with  a  lean-to  roof  and  put  together  on  the  same 
simple  principles  already  shown;  so  that  additional 


FIG.  403. 


294  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

instructions  for  this  design  are  unnecessary.  A  good  way 
for  such  a  building  is  to  sheath  it  vertically  as  shown,  but 
any  of  the  other  methods  can,  of  course,  be  adopted. 


FIG.  404. 


FIG.  405. 

Boat-houses. — By  using  the  same  simple  system  of 
framework  shown  in  Fig.  389  you  can  make  an  inexpensive 
boat-house  (Fig.  405). 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 


A  Few  Simple  Structures 


295 


Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Screws,  Hinges,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,   and 
look  up  any  other  references. 

The  inclined  slip  or  platform  upon  which  you  haul  the  boats  up 
from  the  water  requires  simply  two  or  three  timbers  for  stringers, 
running  down  towards  the  water,  with  2"  planks  nailed  across, 


FIG.  406. 

as  shown.     The  simplest  way  to  square  the  ends  of  these  planks 
is  to  nail  them  in  place,  allowing  a  little  extra  length,  and  then 
saw  the  ends  all  off  at  once  by  a  line. 
A  house  of  this  Hind  can  be  built  to  extend  over  the  water  (for 


296          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


boats  which  are  to  be  kept  in  the  water)  by  arranging  a  founda- 
tion of  stone  or  piles  in  the  water,  or  by  digging  a  little  dock  into 
the  shore  under  the  house. 

In  these  cases  there  must,  of  course,  be  an  additional  door  of 
the  ordinary  kind  for  entrance  on  the  shore  end  of  the  house, 
and  it  will  be  convenient,  if  the  house  is  long  enough,  to  floor 
over  this  end.  A  narrow  floor  or  platform  can  also  be  extended 
along  one  or  both  sides  to  facilitate  handling  the  boats  and  getting 
in  or  out  of  them. 

The  sill  at  the  water  end  will  have  to  be  omitted,  of  course,  a 
piece  of  studding  being  fitted  in  at  each  side  of  the  door-space, 

but  these  details  you  will 
have  no- difficulty  in  arrang- 
ing if  you  have  studied  the 
preceding  examples. 

A  larger  and  more  elab- 
orate boat-house,  or  club- 
house (Fig.  406),  having 
a  loft  for  storage  as  well 
as  a  balcony,  can  be  con- 
structed on  the  same  gen- 
eral principles  already 
explained. 

Before  beginning  work 
read  carefully  Marking, 
Rule,  Square,  Saw,  Plane, 
Nailing,  Screws,  Hinges, 
Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and 
look  up  any  other  refer- 
ences. 

The  end-plate  for  the  end 
shown  in  the  illustration  cannot  run  across  from  side  to  side,  be- 
cause of  the  doorway  opening  on  the  balcony,  but  can  be  made  in 


FIG.  407. 


A  Few  Simple  Structures  297 

two  parts  to  extend  from  the  sides  to  upright  studs  at  each  side 
of  the  doorway.  A  simple  way  of  arranging  the  frame  at  the 
floor  of  the  second  story  is  shown  in  Fig.  407. 

Unless  this  building  is  very  small  (in  which  case  it  can  only  be 
used  for  the  storage  of  oars,  rigging,  etc.),  the  sills  should  be  of 
4"  x  6"  (on  edge)  or  6"  x  6"  stock,  and  the  floor-beams  of  2"  x  6" 
stock.  4"  x  4"  or  4"  x  6"  will  do  for  the  corner-posts,  and  2"  x  4" 
for  the  studding  and  rafters  for  such  a  small  structure  as  is  ad- 
visable for  the  beginner  to  attempt. 

If  you  should,  however,  build  anything  large,  the  posts,  the 
lower  floor-beams,  if  unsupported  in  the  middle,  the  plates,  and 
the  rafters  should  be  heavier.  If  your  house  is  to  be  used  by 
many  people  and  heavy  boats  are  to  be  hauled  in  and  out,  it  is 
much  better  to  err  on  the  side  of  having  these  timbers  too  heavy 
rather  than  too  light.  But  these  designs  are  only  intended  for 
comparatively  small  structures. 

The  outer  floor-timbers  for  the  balcony  had  best  be  mortised 
into  the  posts  (see  Mortising).  The  top  rail  around  the  balcony 
can  be  of  2"  x  4"  studding,  laid  flatways,  and  with  the  upper 
angles  bevelled  (see  levelling).  The  balusters  can  be  simply 
square  pieces  nailed  into  place.  The  rail  and  balusters  can, 
however,  be  obtained  in  a  great  variety  of  forms  at  a  wood-work- 
ing mill,  if  you  prefer  to  buy  them.  The  braces  under  the  bal- 
cony can  be  of  2"  x  4"  stock.  All  these  outside  parts  should  be 
planed  by  machine. 

The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  houses 
already  described. 


PART    IV 
BOAT-BUILDING  FOR  BEGINNERS 


CHAPTER  XV 

BOAT-BUILDING,  like  many  other  kinds  of  work,  can 
be  done  (even  in  its  simplest  stages)  more  quickly, 
more  easily,  and,  of  course,  more  cheaply,  by  two  persons 
than  by  one,  so  it  will  be  economy  of  money,  time,  and 
labour  to  find  someone  to  join  forces  with  you.  Do  not, 
however,  give  up  your  plans  for  lack  of  a  fellow-workman, 
for  nothing  is  given  here  which  cannot  be  done  by  one 
person  with,  perhaps,  a  little  help  once  in  a  while  about 
holding  or  lifting  something. 

If  these  boats  seem  rather  simple  compared  with  many 
which  you  have  seen,  and  you  fail  to  find  here  some  form 
you  have  in  mind  to  build,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
boat-building  is  by  no  means  easy,  and  that  many  an  at- 
tractive design  would  prove  too  difficult  for  the  average 
beginner  to  finish  successfully.  The  experience  gained  in 
building  such  boats  as  these  will  help  you  in  more  difficult 
boat-building.  These  simple  models  are  not  offered  as 
being  in  themselves  the  best  there  are,  nor  are  the  ways 
shown  for  building  them  in  every  case  such  as  would  always 
be  used  by  a  regular  boat-builder;  but  boat-building  in- 
volves a  variety  of  difficulties,  not  merely  in  the  designing, 
but  also  in  the  execution. 

399 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  299 

It  takes  a  good  workman  to  turn  out  a  really  successful 
round-bottomed  boat  (except  by  the  use  of  canvas),  there- 
fore a  few  simple  types  of  flat-bottomed  boats  are  all  that 
are  treated  here.  When  you  have  become  skilful  enough 
to  attempt  the  more  advanced  forms,  you  can  easily  find  a 
number  of  excellent  books  on  boat-building  from  which  to 
gain  the  needed  information.  The  intention  here  is  to 
show  wood-working  processes  which  you  can  use  in  making 
these  simple  craft,  but  not  to  go  into  the  details  of  design- 
ing or  of  rigging,  subjects  which  are  far  too  complex  to  be 
satisfactorily  treated,  even  for  the  beginner,  in  a  hand-book 
on  wood-working. 

While  it  is  practicable  to  make  a  good  punt,  or  flat- 
bottomed  rowboat,  entirely  by  rule  of  thumb,  or  "  cutting 
and  trying  "  as  you  go  along,  still  you  should  accustom 
yourself,  even  in  the  simplest  forms,  to  lay  the  work  out 
on  paper  correctly  first,  as  this  is  really  essential,  in  order 
to  work  to  good  advantage  when  you  come  to  the  more 
advanced  forms. 

Scows  and  Punts. — A  flat-bottomed  boat,  if  made  with 
care,  may  be  not  merely  good-looking,  but  light,  strong, 
and  useful,  and  sometimes  superior  for  some  purposes  to  a 
round-bottomed  boat. 

Boats  of  this  class  are  easily  and  cheaply  built  and  by  no 
means  to  be  despised.  They  are  safe,  capacious,  and  com- 
fortable, and  the  flat  bottom  permits  much  freedom  of 
movement  by  the  occupants,  making  them  good  boats  for 
fishing  and  general  use  on  ponds  and  rivers,  as  well  as  for 
transporting  loads. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other 
references, 


300          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

The  process  is  to  first  get  out  the  sides,  then  the  ends,  next  to 
fasten  the  sides  and  ends  together  as  in  making  a  box,  then  to 
nail  on  the  bottom,  and  finally  to  put  in  the  seats  and  any  other 
fittings.  Almost  any  kind  of  soft  wood  can  be  used  for  a  boat 
of  this  kind.  Pine  is  excellent.  Care  should  be  taken  to  select 
clear,  straight-grained  stock,  free  from  knots,  checks,  and  other 
defects,  and  thoroughly  dry. 

For  the  sides,  take  two  boards,  for  example,  14'  long,  14"  wide, 
and  -J"  thick,  planed  on  both  sides.  Both  edges  should  be 


FIG.  408. 

"  jointed  "  and  the  ends  squared  and  sawed  accurately.  Mark, 
saw,  and  plane  the  slant  at  each  end  of  these  boards  as  shown  in 
Fig.  408.  The  ends  must  next  be  got  out.  In  this  case  they  can 
be  4'  long  and  4^"  wide.  Nail  together  the  sides  and  ends  just 
as  in  making  a  flat  box.  Use  three  nails  (3"  or  3^"  long)  at  each 
corner.  It  is  safest  to  bore  holes  for  the  nails  (see  Boring}. 
Copper  nails  are  best  for  boats,  but  galvanized  iron  answers  very 
well  for  common  boats  of  this  kind.  Next  place  this  frame, 
bottom  up,  on  horses  or  boxes  or  a  flat  floor  and  plane  down  the 
projecting  edges  of  the  end  pieces  to  agree  with  the  slant  of  the 
sides. 

Pieces  for  the  bottom  are  now  to  be  sawed  from  boards  about 
6"  to  8*  wide.  Mark  and  saw  one  piece  and  use  it  for  a  pattern 
by  which  to  mark  the  lengths  of  the  remaining  pieces.  You  can 
take  the  length  directly  from  either  end,  allowing  a  trifle  (say  £") 
to  spare,  for  planing  the  ends  after  they  are  nailed.  Having 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  301 

sawed  the  required  number  of  pieces,  which  will  depend  on  the 
width  of  the  boards,  nail  them  on  carefully.  Before  nailing, 
thoroughly  paint  the  bottom  edge  to  which  they  are  to  be  nailed 
with  thick  white-lead  paint.  See  that  the  edges  of  each  board 
are  straight,  paint  the  edges  as  you  lay  them,  and  nail  thoroughly 
with  2%"  nails.  Do  not  put  the  nails  so  close  to  the  edge  as  to 
cause  splitting.  The  edges  of  the  pieces  which  come  together  at 
the  angles  of  the  bottom  must  be  fitted  carefully  with  the  plane 
(see  Bevelling],  to  make  as  tight  joints  as  possible.  The  boards 
should  be  pressed  closely  together  as  they  are  nailed.  They  will 
assist  in  keeping  the  sides  and  ends  of  the  boat  at  right  angles, 
but  it  would  be  well  to  test  the  angles  with  the  large  square,  or  by 
measuring  the  diagonals,  when  you  nail  on  the  first  two  boards. 

A  quicker  way  is  to  nail  on  all  the  boards  (not  sawing  them 
accurately  to  a  length)  and  then  to  saw  the  ends  all  off  by  a  line. 

A  good  way  is  to  use,  for  the  bottom,  plain  sheathing  or 
matched  boards,  if  obtainable  without  the  bead  or  moulding 
commonly  worked  on  the  surface,  which  would  be  apt  to  cause 
leakage.  The  sheathing  can  be  planed  down  on  both  sides  to  a 
thickness  of  -f  ",  which  will  remove  the  moulding,  but  this  is  rather 
thin  for  the  bottom  of  a  boat  as  large  as  this,  though  an  excellent 
way  for  a  narrower  boat. 

When  the  bottom  is  all  nailed  on,  turn  the  boat  on  each  side 
and  plane  off  any  irregularity  in  the  ends  of  the  bottom  boards, 
so  that  they  will  be  flush  with  the  sides. 

A  cleat  from  4"  to  6"  wide  should  be  laid  along  the  middle  of 
the  bottom  to  stiffen  it,  as  shown.  The  nails  should  be  driven 
through  the  boards  and  clinched.  Wrought  nails,  or  some  kind 
that  will  bend  over  and  not  break,  must  of  course  be  used  for 
this.  This  cleat  is  often  nailed  on  the  outside  instead  of  the 
inside. 

Nail  a  seat  at  each  end  directly  on  top  of  the  sides  and  ends 
as  shown.  From  12"  to  18"  in  width  will  do.  The  seat  for  row- 
ing (about  8"  or  9"  wide)  can  rest  on  cleats,  as  shown. 

Next  screw  a  cleat,  about  2"  deep,  $"  thick,  and  10"  long,  to  the 


302          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

insides  of  the  gunwales  at  the  places  for  the  rowlocks  (see 
Screws).  Common  iron  rowlocks  can  be  bought  almost  any- 
where, and  the  way  to  put  them  on  is  obvious  (see  Boring).  A 
substitute  for  them  can  be  arranged  easily  by  simply  boring  two 
holes,  3^*  apart,  for  the  insertion  of  round  thole  pins  of  hard 

wood.  Another 
simple  way  (Fig. 
409)  is  to  make  two 
mortises  or  slots, 
3^"  apart  and  i£* 

long  x  f  wide,  to 
FIG.  400.  FIG.  410.   •    u    .«    i 

hold    thole    pins 

(Fig.  410).  The  cutting  can  be  done  wholly  in  the  cleats  by 
sawing  and  paring. 

Insert  a  ring-bolt  at  the  end  by  which  to  fasten  the  boat,  or  a 
staple  can  be  driven  in,  or  a  hole  bored  at  the  end  of  the  seat. 

If  care  has  been  taken  to  make  close  joints,  the  wood  will  swell 
on  being  put  in  the  water  and  in  a  short  time  the  boat  should  be 
tight.  Unless  made  for  some  temporary  purpose,  however,  a 
boat  that  is  worth  making  at  all  is  worth  painting.  It  should  be 
painted  carefully  with  lead  paint,  both  inside  and  out,  two  or 
three  coats,  being  careful  to  work  the  paint  well  into  the  wood 
and  the  cracks  (see  Painting). 

Instead  of  laying  the  bottom  boards  tightly  together,  as  directed 
above,  they  can  be  laid  slightly  apart,  so  that  the  cracks  between 
them  will  be  about  \'  wide.  These  can  then  be  caulked  with 
oakum,  cotton-batting,  or  wicking,  or  something  of  that  nature. 
Roll  or  twist  the  material  into  a  loose  cord,  unless  already  in  that 
form,  and  force  it  into  the  cracks  with  a  putty-knife,  screw- 
driver, case-knife,  or  anything  of  the  sort.  A  regular  caulking- 
iron  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  a  small  boat.  A  piece  of  hard 
wood  will  do.  Be  sure  to  fill  the  seams  thoroughly  and  tightly 
with  the  oakum  or  other  caulking  material.  Then  apply  white 
lead  plentifully  to  the  caulked  seams.  But  the  method  first  given 
is  usually  satisfactory  if  you  do  your  work  with  care. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  303 

\ 

Pitch  or  tar  can  be  used  in  making  the  bottom  of  a  boat  of  this 
kind  tight. 

A  form  which  is  a  decided  improvement  on  the  preceding 
is  shown  in  Fig.  41 1.  The  process  of  making  this  punt  will 
be  first  to  get  out  the  cross-board  which  goes  in  the  middle, 
and  next  the  sides  and  ends.  These  pieces  having  been  put 
together,  the  bottom  is  nailed  on,  and  finally  the  seats  and 
other  fittings  are  added. 


FIG.  411. 

The  one  here  described  is  small,  but  large  enough  for  two 
good-sized  boys.  The  dimensions  are  given  merely  to  help 
illustrate  the  process.  As  much  larger  boat  as  may  be 
desired  can,  of  course,  be  made  upon  the  same  principles. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other 
references. 

Care  should  always  be  taken  to  select  clear,  straight-grained 
stock,  free  from  knots,  checks,  and  other  defects,  and  thoroughly 
dry.  Pine  is  excellent,  but  almost  any  good  wood  can  be  used 
for  a  boat  of  this  sort. 

First  get  out  carefully  a  board,  perhaps  3'  long,  or  the  width 
of  the  boat  (at  the  middle),  and  of  the  shape  shown  in  Fig.  412, 
removing  a  small  piece  at  each  lower  corner,  to  allow  for  the 


304          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

passage  of  any  water  which  may  leak  in.  Get  out  each  side  of  the 
boat,  10'  4"  long,  of  f  stock,  carefully  squaring  the  ends.  After 
these  are  cut,  mark  a  distance  of  3'  from  each  end  towards  the  cen- 
tre on  the  edge  of  one  of  the  boards  and  a  dis- 
tance of  3"  on  the  ends,  measuring  from  the 
other  edge,  and  mark  the  curves  shown  in 
Fig.  413,  which  should  sweep  easily  from  the 
edge  of  the  board  without  any  abrupt  turn.  If  you  cannot  draw 
a  good  curve  free-hand,  take  a  spline  or  thin  strip  of  wood, 
bend  it  on  the  side  of  the  board  towards  one  end  till  you  get  a  good 
curve,  hold  it  in  position,  and  using  it  as  a  ruler  mark  the  line 
with  a  pencil.  You  can  cut  this  curve  and  use  it  for  a  pattern 
by  which  to  mark  the  other  curves.  These  curves  can  be  band- 
sawed  or  cut  with  the  draw-knife  or  hatchet  and  plane  (see  Par- 
ing). Whatever  method  you  adopt,  the  curves  should  finally  be 


FIG.  413. 

run  over  with  the  plane  to  remove  irregularities,  and  care  must  be 
taken  to  keep  as  accurately  to  the  line  marked  as  possible.  The 
top  edges  must  also  be  jointed,  although  it  is  not  material  that 
they  should  be  absolutely  straight.  Mark  a  line  with  the  square 
across  each  board  at  the  centre.  Next  get  out  the  end  pieces, 
2  long,  3f"  wide,  and  of  \"  stock  (Fig.  414).  Bevel  the  ends  of 
these  pieces  at  the  same  angle  as  the  centre  board  already  sawed, 
from  which  you  can  mark  the  angle. 

An  easy  way  to  put  this  boat  together  will  be  to  put  the  sides 
and  ends  together,  and  then,  by  spreading  the  sides 
apart,  to  put  the  middle  board  in  its  proper  place. 
Bore  holes  for  2$"  screws  at  each  end  of  the  sides 
(see  Boring)  and  screw  the  sides  and  ends  together 
loosely  (see  Screws),  not  driving  the  screws  home,  but  leaving 
their  heads  sticking  beyond  the  sides  perhaps  an  eighth  of  an 
inch.     Now  lay  the  boat  (so  far  as  made)  bottom  side  up  on  the 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  305 

horses  or  boxes,  or  even  with  one  end  on  the  floor  and  the  other 
raised  by  a  box,  and,  spreading  the  sides  in  the  middle  as  much 
as  may  be  necessary,  push  the  middle  board  up  into  place,  get- 
ting it  exactly  opposite  centre  lines  previously  marked  on  the 
sides  and  so  that  the  bottom  edge  of  the  board  is  just  even  with 
the  inner  edge  of  the  bottom  of  the  sides.  This  piece  can  now 
be  nailed  in  place  by  three  nails  at  each  end. 

Now,  on  looking  at  the  ends  where  the  sides  are  screwed,  you 
will  see  that  spreading  the  sides  has  caused  the  joints  (purposely 
left  loose)  to  open  slightly  at  the  inside,  and  that  the  ends  require 
to  be  slightly  bevelled  or  trimmed  to  make  a  close  joint.  Un- 
screw one  end,  do  the  necessary  trimming  with  the  plane,  replace 
the  piece,  and  screw  it  into  position  again,  driving  the  screws 
home  and  adding-  one  or  two  nails.  Do  the  same  with  the  other 
end  and  the  boat  will  be  ready  for  the  bottom. 

But  before  the  bottom  is  nailed  on,  the  lower  edges  of  the  sides 
must  be  bevelled  with  the  plane, 
owing  to  the  sides  flaring  out- 
wards. The  degree  of  bevelling 
required  can  be  determined  by  lay- 
ing a  board  across  (Fig.  415).  At  FlG-  4J5- 
first  it  will  only  touch  the  outer  angles  of  the  edges,  and  the  plan- 
ing must  be  continued  until  it  bears  flat  on  the  entire  edge. 

Now  get  out  of  \"  stock  the  bottom  boards,  the  edges  of  which 
should  be  carefully  jointed  to  fit  together  as  tightly  as  possible. 
These  boards  should  be  thoroughly  nailed  to  the  sides  of  the  boat 
with  2^"  or  2\"  nails,  care  being  taken  not  to  nail  too  near 
the  edges  of  the  boards,  lest  they  split.  As  the  sides  are  only 
f  thick  you  will  have  to  be  careful  in  driving  the  nails  or  they 
will  split  the  sides.  Before  you  finish  nailing  the  first  bottom 
boards,  test  the  symmetry  of  the  frame  by  measuring  the  diago- 
nals. These  should  be  equal.  If  not,  you  can  easily  make  them 
so  with  your  hands,  and  tack  a  couple  of  strips  diagonally  across  the 
gunwales  to  keep  the  frame  in  position  until  the  bottom  is  nailed 
on.  Also  sight  across  the  gunwales  to  see  that  the  frame  is  true. 


306          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

If  it  winds,  correct  the  error  by  blocking  it  up  where  needed. 

Sheathing  can  well  be  used  for  the  bottom  of  this  boat,  as  foi 
the  one  just  described,  if  you  can  get  it  without  the  moulding. 
The  bottom  can  also  be  caulked  (see  page  302),  but  if  you  can- 
not get  the  sheathing  the  way  first  described  will  answer  every 
purpose. 

After  the  bottom  is  nailed  on,  turn  the  boat  on  each  edge  and 
plane  off  any  irregularities  at  the  ends  of  the  bottom  boards,  so 
that  they  will  be  flush  with  the  sides. 

Next  nail  a  strip,  about  3"  or  4"  wide  and  f "  thick,"  lengthways 
on  the  middle  of  the  bottom,  on  the  inside.  Fasten  this  to  each 
board  with  a  couple  of  nails  driven  through  and  clinched  on  the 
outside.  This  will  serve  to  stiffen  the  bottom. 

Next  deck  over  each  end  with  a  seat  12"  wide  nailed  directly 
on  top  of  the  sides.  Put  in  a  seat,  or  thwart,  9*  wide  and  £" 
thick,  next  to  the  middle  brace,  as  shown.  Cleats  can  be  nailed 
to  the  sides  under  this  seat.  This  should  be  a  fixed  seat,  nailed 
to  the  cross  brace  and  to  the  sides  of  the  boat,  which  will  assist 
in  stiffening  the  sides. 

You  can  nail  a  gunwale  strip,  2"  wide  by  -J*  or  f  thick,  on 
top  of  the  sides  and  reaching  from  one  end  seat  to  the  other, 
or  you  can  put  a  somewhat  smaller  strip  around  the  outer 
edge  of  the  gunwale,  which  is  quite  as  good  a  way.  It  is  not 
really  necessary  to  put  any  gunwale  strip  on  so  small  a  boat, 
but  if  omitted  a  cleat  must  be  screwed  on  for  the  rowlocks  (Fig. 
409).  If  you  put  the  gunwale  strip  on  top,  it  will  make  a  more 
workmanlike  job  to  first  plane  the  edges  of  the  gunwale  so  that 
they  will  be  horizontal  across  the  boat,  in  the  same  way  that  you 
planed  the  bottom  edges  to  receive  the  bottom  boards. 

Put  the  centre  of  the  rowlocks  about  12"  aft  of  the  centre  of 
jjt&Sk,  the  boat,  raising  them  an  inch  or  so  above  the  gunwale 
^^^  by  means  of  a  cleat  (Fig.  416),  as  shown. 
FIG.  416.  At  a  distance  of  about  28"  from  the  bow,  you  can,  if 
desired,  put  in  a  6"  thwart  between  the  gunwales  or  a  little  lower, 
and  in  the  middle  of  this  thwart  bore  a  hole  for  a  small  mast, 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  307 


putting  below  and  slightly  forward  upon  the  floor  a  block  with  a 
smaller  hole.  Sailing  does  not  amount  to  very  much  in  a  boat 
of  this  sort,  but  a  small  sail  is  often  very  useful  when  going  be- 
fore the  wind  and  adds  to  the  fun. 

This  makes  a  very  useful  and  safe  boat  for  a  couple  of  boys 
for  river  or  pond  work. 

If  you  wish  to  make  a  larger  one  you  will  have  no  difficulty 
after  studying  the  process  given  above.  The  only  difference 
need  be  in  the  dimensions. 

For  one  12'  long  you  could  make  the  beam  at  the  gunwale 
(outside)  3'  6"  and  at  the  bottom  2'  10",  the  beam  at  the  bottom 
of  the  ends  (outside)  2'  10"  (same  as  amidships) — the  ends  to 
flare  upward  at  the  same  angle  as  at  the  centre,  the  boards  for 
the  sides  being  14"  wide. 

For  one  14'  long,  you  could  make  the  beam  4'  at  the  gunwale, 
3'  4"  at  the  bottom,  the  same  at  the  ends,  and  the  sides  could  be 
made  of  boards  15"  wide.  Stock  f "  thick  is  sufficiently  heavy  for 
the  sides  of  a  boat  14'  long. 

The  seats  for  a  larger  boat  than  that  described  can  be  arranged 

to  rest  as  shown  in  Fig.  417,  and  an 
extra  mould  or  cross-board  not  far 

from  each  end  can  be  used'  as 
shown. 


FIG.  417. 


FIG.  418. 


A  piece  of  keel  or  skag  can  be  added  at  the  stern  end,  if  de- 
sired, as  shown  in  Fig.  418.  This  will  assist  in  rowing  straight. 
Fit  a  piece  of  ^"  board  to  the  curve  of  the  bottom,  keeping  the 
straight  edge  parallel  with  the  top.  Square  off  the  end  in 
line  with  the  stern,  nail  the  skag  firmly  to  the  bottom,  and  nail  a 
stern-post,  |"  x  i\"  or  i|",  securely  to  the  stern  and  the  skag. 
A  rudder  can  be  hung  to  the  stern-post  if  desired.  A  centre- 


308          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

board  is  sometimes  added  to  a  punt,  being  arranged  in  the  way 
shown  on  page  330.  A  lee-board  is  often  used  on  punts  and 
scows.  It  is  merely  a  centre-board  lowered  outside  of  the  boat 
instead  of  in  the  centre. 


FIG.  419. 

Small  Rowboat. — A  simple  form  of  skiff,  or  common 
flat-bottomed  rovvboat  (Fig.  419),  called  by  various  names, 
is  similar  to  the  punt  at  the  stern,  and  the  mode  of  con- 
struction is  similar.  The  boards  for  the  sides  are  not  cut 
away  on  the  bottom  at  the  bow,  as  in  the  punt,  but  are  left 
full  width  and  drawn  together  to  form  a  sharp  bow.  The 
ends  are  usually,  but  not  always,  cut  off  with  a  slight  slant 
at  the  bow,  which  gives  a  rake  to  the  stem  (Fig.  420). 


FIG.  420. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other 
references. 

Care  should  be  taken  to  select  clear,  straight-grained  stock, 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners 


3°9 


free  from  knots,  checks,  and  other  defects,  and  thoroughly  dry. 
Pine  is  excellent.     Any  good  wood  can,  however,  be  used. 

Make  a  middle  mould  (Fig.  421),  as  in  the  case  of  the  punt 
just   described,    and  proceed  with  the  con- 
struction in  a  similar  manner,  until  you  come 
to  the  bow. 

Screw  the  sides   to    the    stern-piece   (Fig.  FlG     2t 

422)  without  driving  the  screws  completely 


in,  but  leaving  a  little  play  to  the  joint  (see  Screws]. 
Next  put  the  middle  mould  in  place  by  lines  pre- 
viously squared  across  each  side.  Nail  the  middle  422- 
mould  in  position.  Then,  letting  someone  draw  the  bow  ends 
of  the  sides  together  (or  if  you  are  alone,  binding  them  together 
temporarily),  release  the  stern-piece  and  plane  its  ends  to  make 
close  joints  with  the  side  pieces,  as  in  the  case  of  the  punt  already 
described.  When  these  joints  are  fitted,  paint  them  with  white 
lead  and  screw  or  nail  the  sides  securely  (and  permanently)  to 
the  stern  board. 

Draw  the  fore-ends  together  and  fit  a  piece  of  hard  wood  in  the 
angle  at  the  bow  as  shown  in  Fig.  423.  You  can  cut  this  piece 
approximately  to  shape  with  a  hatchet  and  then  plane  the  surface 
down  until  you  get  an  accurate  fit.  When  you  have  made  it  fit, 
paint  it  and  also  the  sides  where  they  bear  against  it.  After- 
ward screw  or  nail  the  sides  firmly  to  this  stem-piece,  letting 
each  end  of  the  stem  project  a  little. 
Screws  are  best  (brass  screws  if  for  salt 
water),  but  nails  can  be  used.  Do  not 
drive  them  all  in  line,  but  add  a  second 
row  farther  from  the  edge  and  alternately 
arranged.  If  a  piece  of  hard  wood  is  not 
available,  a  block  of  soft  wood  can  be 
used,  but  it  should  be  somewhat  larger. 

Another  pattern  of  stem-piece  can  be  used  (Fig.  424).  Much 
pains  should  be  taken  in  making  this  post.  The  rabbets  on  each 
side  should  be  cut  with  care,  trying  to  get  the  sides  alike  and  to 


FIG.  423. 


3io          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

cut  accurately  to  the  lines  marked.  When  the  cutting  is  nearly 
done,  put  the  piece  in  place  and  you  can  then  note  any  changes 
which  may  be  required  to  make  tight  joints.  When  you  finally 

have  a  good  fit,  paint  and  fasten  in 
place  as  described  above. 

Still  another  form  ot  stem-piece  is 
shown  in  Fig.  425.  One  side  of  the 
boat  must  be  got  out  longer  than  the 
other  to  allow  for  the  lapping  over  at 

the  bow,  the   stem-post   being   first 
FIG.  424.  FIG.  425. 

fastened  to  the  shorter  side  and  then 

trimmed  if  necessary,  until  the  side  which  laps  over  fits  accurately. 

When  the  boat  is  fastened  together  to  this  extent,  it  will  fre- 
quently be  found  that  the  bottom  has  too  much  curvature  length- 
ways, according  to  the  degree  to  which  the  sides  flare  outward 
and  bend  up  at  the  ends.  This  you  can  remedy  by  trimming  off 
the  sides  in  the  middle,  first  carefully  marking  the  desired  line. 
Measure  accurately,  in  doing  this,  to  be  sure  that  the  two  sides 
will  be  alike.  In  removing  the  superfluous  wood  do  not  attack 
it  hastily  with  hatchet  or  drawknife,  for  wood  often  splits  in  a 
way  surprisingly  different  from  the  direction  in  which  the  grain 
appears  to  run  (see  Paring}.  It  is  sometimes  best  to  remove  the 
wood  with  the  splitting-saw,  but  stop  all  such  processes  some  dis- 
tance outside  of  the  line,  and  rely  upon  the  plane  for  the  final 
shaping. 

The  lower  edges  must  be  bevelled  off  accurately,  ready  for  the 
bottom  boards,  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the  punt  (Fig.  415). 
Next  nail  on  the  bottom,  using  common  boarding  or  sheathing 
as  in  the  case  of  the  punt  just  described,  and  put  in  the  stiffening 
strip  of  board  along  the  middle  of  the  floor. 

If  the  middle  mould  comes  in  such  a  position  that  it  will  be  in 
the  way  if  left  in  place  permanently,  you  can  simply  tack  it  into 
position  with  a  couple  of  nails  at  each  end,  leaving  the  heads 
protruding  enough  to  draw  them  out  easily.  When  you  have  put 
in  the  seats  and  any  other  braces  necessary  to  ensure  the  sides 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  311 

keeping  their  position,  you  can  draw  the  nails  and  take  out  the 
centre  mould. 

Fit  seats  at  bow  and  stern,  putting  them  two  or  three  inches 
below  the  gunwale  and  resting  them  on  cleats. 

In  case  you  use  the  stem-piece  shown  in  Fig.  423,  saw  or  plane 
off  the  projecting  ends  of  the  sides  at  the  bow  smoothly  and 
screw  (or  nail)  on  a  cutwater  made  of  some  hard  wood  and  with 
a  sharp  edge.  Fasten  strips  along  the  gunwale, — "  wale  strips," 
— as  already  shown. 

A  skag  can  be  put  on  at  the  stern,  if  desired,  as  described  on 
page  307. 

Such  a  boat  can  be  sailed  by  adding  a  centre-board  (see  page 
330)  or  by  bolting  on  a  keel  several  inches  in  depth.  A  small 
sailboat  can  be  made  in  this  way  by  making  the  stern  narrower, 
proportionately,  the  sides  higher,  and  decking  over  the  bow  and 
stern.  The  decking  can  extend  over  all  the  top,  if  desired,  ex- 
cept a  well-hole  around  which  can  be  fitted  a  coaming  or  wash 
board.  The  keel  can  be  of  plank  fitted  carefully  to  the  shape  of 
the  bottom,  its  lower  edge  being  horizontal  towards  the  after  part, 
which  will  make  it  quite  deep  at  the  stern.  A  rudder  should  be 
added  for  sailing. 


FIG.  426. 

Skiff  or  Flat-bottomed  Canoe. — A  double-ended  skiff, 
batteau,  or  flat-bottomed  canoe  (Fig.  426),  known  by  various 
names,  can  be  easily  made  by  simply  carrying  the  process 


312          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

already  described  a  little  further,  and  drawing  the  sides  to- 
gether at  the  stern  as  well  as  at  the  bow,  thus  forming  a 
boat  sharp  at  both  ends.  This  is  an  excellent  type  for  the 
amateur,  whether  in  the  form  of  a  small  canoe  or  a  quite 
good-sized  boat  for  rowing,  or  even  light  sailing.  Such  a 
boat  is  light,  easily  propelled,  buoyant,  does  not  pound  the 
waves  when  meeting  them  so  much  as  the  punt,  and  the 
sharp  stern  is  good  when  running  before  a  sea. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other 
references. 

Care  must  be  taken  to  select  clear,  straight-grained  stock,  free 
from  knots,  checks,  and  other  defects,  and  thoroughly  dry. 
Pine  is  excellent,  but  almost  any  good  wood  can  be  used  for  a 
boat  of  this  sort. 

The  sides  can  be  bent  into  place  around  a  mould  in  the  middle 
and  brought  together  at  both  ends  and  two  end-posts  fitted.  In 
other  respects  the  process  differs  so  little  from  the  preceding  that 
complete  description  is  needless. 

The  two  stem-pieces,  which  you  can  fit  in  the  manner  already 
shown,  will,  theoretically,  be  alike.  Practically,  there  should  not 
be  more  than  a  very  trifling  difference  required  in  their  shape. 
Having  found  the  shape  for  one,  get  the  other  out  just  like  it. 
If  it  does  not  fit  perfectly,  it  can  be  trimmed  until  it  does  fit; 
but  if  the  first  one  fits  right  and  the  second  fails  to  do  so  by  more 
than  a  trifling  degree,  you  had  best  look  the  boat  over  and  verify 
your  work,  and  you  may  find  that  you  have  cut  something  too 
long  or  too  short  or  got  something  in  the  wrong  place.  Paint  the 
ends  of  these  sides  where  they  will  be  in  contact  with  the  stem 
and  stern  with  white  lead. 

The  sides  and  ends  can  be  put  together  as  follows:  Take  either 
side,  screw  it  securely  to  the  stem-pieces  at  each  end.  Dip  the 
screw  points  in  white-lead  paint.  Next  screw  either  end  of  the 
other  side  to  the  corresponding  stem-piece,  which  will  leave 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  313 

the  sides  separated  at  an  acute  angle,  with  one  end  of  one  side  not 
yet  fastened  to  its  corresponding  bow-  or  stern-post.  The  ends 
being  alike  it  does  not  matter  which  is  called  the  bow  or  stern. 
To  fasten  this  remaining  joint,  it  will  be  necessary  to  spring  or 
bend  the  sides.  If  you  have  someone  to  help  you,  you  can 
easily  put  the  midship  frame  into  position  and  bend  the  sides 
around  it  until  the  unfastened  end  comes  into  the  correct  position 
against  the  stem-piece,  to  which  it  can  be  held  and  screwed 
firmly.  If  you  can  get  no  help,  you  can  hold  the  sides  in  posi- 
tion by  using  a  rope  doubled  and  inserting  sticks  at  top  and 
bottom  by  which  the  rope  can  be  twisted  and  shortened  (see 
Clamps]. 

Another  way  is  to  put  a  box  or  joist,  perhaps  a  couple  of  feet 
long,  between  the  sides,  to  prevent  making  too  much  strain  on 
the  end  fastenings,  and,  having  secured  the  unfastened  end,  the 
frames  can  then  be  laid  flat,  the  sides  drawn  farther  apart,  and 
the  midship  frame  forced  into  position.  The  latter  will  be  in 
position  when  it  agrees  with  the  lines  previously  drawn  on  the 
sides  and  when  the  bottom  is  flush  with  the  inner  corners  of  the 
lower  edges  of  the  sides.  Nail  the  sides  to  it  with  if"  or  2" 
nails,  or  it  can  finally  be  removed  if  not  needed  for  stiffness. 

The  remaining  details  do  not  differ  from  those  previously  de- 
scribed. The  rowlocks  can  be  placed  wherever  desired  in  the 
way  already  described,  but  if  the  boat  should  be  too  narrow  for 
this  arrangement,  they  can  be  fastened  to  outriggers,  which  the 
blacksmith  can  easily  contrive. 

A  flat-bottomed  canoe  can  be  made  on  this  same  prin- 
ciple, the  only  difference  being  to  have  less  beam  and  to  use 
a  paddle  or  paddles  instead  of  oars. 

A  very  successful  small  canoe,  suitable  for  quiet  waters,  can  be 
made  of  quite  thin  wood  (perhaps  |"  to  It"  in  thickness),  the  out- 
side being  covered  with  canvas.  In  case  of  building  so  light  a 
craft  as  this,  however,  it  is  best  to  insert  regular  ribs  at  distances 


3 14          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

of  about  a  foot  to  give  the  necessary  stiffness,  and  to  lay  the 
bottom  boards  lengthways.  The  ribs  can  be  bought  in  any  large 
town  on  the  water,  or  you  can  fashion  them  yourself.  Natural 
bends  are  always  preferable,  but  you  can  make  knees  (on  the 
general  principle  shown  in  Fig.  433)  of  straight-grained  stock, 
which,  though  clumsier  and  not  so  strong,  will  serve  the  purpose. 
Care  must  be  taken  in  fastening  on  the  bottom  not  to  split 
either  the  bottom  or  the  sides.  But  the  canvas  will  be  the 
main  reliance  in  keeping  the  boat  tight.  The  canvas  can  be  put 
on  in  three  pieces,  first  the  sides,  and  then  the  bottom.  Cover 
the  sides  down  to  the  bottom  and  let  the  bottom  piece  lap  up 
over  the  sides  two  or  three  inches  and  the  edges  be  turned  under. 
Stiffen  the  gunwale  by  a  strip. 

A  light,  removable  board,  or  grating  of  slats,  should  be  laid 
inside  along  the  bottom,  on  the  cross-frames. 

If  well  made  and  kept  well  painted  so  as  to  protect  the  canvas 
from  wear  at  the  exposed  points,  a  light  canoe  of  this  sort  will 
last  many  years  and  be  a  very  useful  boat.  It  must  be  kept  out 
of  the  water  and  under  cover  when  not  in  use. 


FIG.  427. 

A  simple  and  cheap  flat-bottomed  canoe  (Figs.  427  and 
428),  but  not  canvas-covered,  is  not  difficult  to  make  by  the 
process  already  described.  First  make  the  frames  and  the 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  315 

stem-  and  stern-posts,  then  get  out  the  sides.  These  parts 
are  put  together  and  then  the  bottom  is  put  on,  the  well- 
hole  coaming  fitted,  the  boat  decked,  and  finally  the  minor 
fittings  added. 


FIG.  428. 

First  make  the  centre  frame  like  Fig.  429,  the  bottom  strip  being 
of  •£"  stock,  i£"deep,  and  the  side  pieces  of  |"  board.  Screw  the 
pieces  together  with  two  screws  at  each  angle.  Care  must  be 
taken  to  make  this  frame  symmetrical  or  the  boat  will  be  one- 
sided. You  can  draw  the  outline  of  the  frame  carefully  on  a 
piece  of  stiff  brown  paper,  drawing  a  vertical  centre  line  and 
measuring  both  ways  for  accuracy.  Lay  this  pattern  on  the 
bench  top,  or  on  a  smooth  floor,  and  place  the  pieces  for  the 
frame  on  the  drawing  so  that  the  outer  edges  just  coincide  with 
the  outline  of  the  drawing.  Hold  them  firmly  in  position  and 
screw  the  angles  securely  together.  Tack  a  waste  piece  across 
near  the  top  to  help  keep  the  frame  in  shape  until  in  position. 
Next  get  out  two  frames  like  Fig.  430,  taking  the  dimensions 
from  your  plan,  two  more  like  Fig.  431,  and  two  like  Fig.  432. 


FIG.  429.  FIG.  430.  FIG.  431.  FIG.  432. 

To  make  the  stem-  and  stern-posts,  take  two  pieces  of  joist,  about 
2"  x  4"  and  of  sufficient  length,  and  with  the  chisel  and  saw  cut 
a  rabbet  on  each  side  of  each  piece,  on  the  principle  shown  in 
Fig.  424.  Give  these  rabbets  a  good  coat  of  white-lead  paint. 

The  sides  are  got  out  in  the  way  already  shown.     On  them 
mark  the  position  for  the  centre  mould.     Insert  and  nail  into 


316          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

place  the  two  next  largest  frames,  at  the  proper  places,  and  so  on 
until  all  are  in  position.  All,  except  the  centre  one,  will  require 
to  have  their  edges  slightly  bevelled  with  the  plane  to  fit  the  sides. 
You  can  do  this  best  as  you  put  them  in  place.  Paint  the  edges 
of  the  frames  with  white  lead  before  nailing  them  in  position. 
Next  fit  pieces  of  J"  board  to  form  the  coaming  around  the  well- 
hole,  and  fasten  them  to  the  three  middle  frames.  The  details  of 
this  you  can  easily  arrange  for  yourself.  The  general  idea  is  ex- 
pressed in  Figs.  427  and  434. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  deck,  thoroughly  paint  the 
whole  of  the  inside  of  the  boat  with  white  lead,  working  it  well 
into  all  the  joints  and  cracks.  After  giving  it  a  few  days  to  dry, 
look  the  inside  over  carefully  for  any  holes  or  defects  to  be 
stopped.  After  filling  any  there  may  be,  give  the  entire  inside 
another  coat,  working  it  well  into  all  crevices  as  before.  Do  not 
neglect  this  part  of  the  work,  as  it  will  not  be  easy  to  get  at  the 
inside  (except  "in  the  middle)  after  the  deck  is  put  on. 

On  the  middle  of  the  deck  stretch  strips  of  %"  wood  about  4" 
wide  from  the  coaming  of  the  well  to  the  stem-  and  stern-posts, 
tapering  the  pieces  as  they  approach  the  ends  and  resting  them 
on  the  tops  of  the  frames,  to  which  they  should  be  firmly  nailed. 

If  you  wish  to  sail,  a  stiff  brace  or  thwart  can  be  put  in  for  the 
mast,  with  a  block  for  a  step. 

One  or  more  strips,  i^x^",  can  now  be  placed  longitudinally 
on  each  side  of  the  deck  and  nailed  to  the  frames. 

Additional  deck-beams,  running  from  gunwale  to  gunwale,  and 
having  the  requisite  arch  or  convexity,  can  be  put  in  if  needed. 
A  few  brackets  can  also  be  put  under  the  deck,  reaching  from  the 
sides  to  the  coaming,  if  needed. 

A  keel  about  one  inch  square,  or  deeper  at  the  centre,  if  desired, 
can  be  fitted  along  the  entire  length  of  the  bottom.  It  had  best 
be  fastened  on  with  screws.  If  your  boat  is  to  be  used  in  deep 
water  only,  you  can  make  the  keel  3"  or  4*  deep  in  the  middle, 
rockering  it  up  towards  the  ends,  and  the  boat  can  be  sailed 
without  a  centre-board. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  317 

Cover  the  deck  with  canvas,  fastened  with  small  tacks  to  the 
coaming  and  to  the  sides.  The  edges  of  the  canvas  can  be  drawn 
down  over  the  gunwale  for  about  half  an  inch,  the  edge  being 
finally  covered  by  a  gunwale  strip  screwed  from  stem-  to  stern- 
post.  A  piece  of  half-round  \"  moulding  is  good,  although  any 
small  strip  will  do.  Dampen  the  canvas  and  then  give  it  at  least 
two  coats  of  paint.  A  .wooden  deck  can  be  put  on  if  preferred. 

Canvas-covered  Canoes. — To  make  a  really  good  canoe 
wholly  of  wood  requires  a  degree  of  skill  much  greater  than 
can  be  expected  of  the  beginner,  or  than  is  attained  by  the 
average  amateur.  Any  boy  or  amateur  can,  however,  with 
the  help  of  canvas  and  with  a  very  few  tools  and  at  slight 
expense,  make  some  simple  varieties  which  will  serve  the 
purpose  satisfactorily.  The  canoe  is  sharp  at  both  ends, 
requires  only  a  paddle,  and  is  light  enough  to  be  easily 
handled  ashore.  If  carefully  made,  a  canvas  canoe  will  be 
strong,  durable,  and  not  difficult  to  mend,  though  repairs 
are  seldom  necessary  if  proper  care  is  taken.  If  canvas  of 
good  quality  is  used,  it  will  not  be  easily  punctured  or  torn 
as  one  might  think,  but  will  stand  an  amount  of  banging 
around,  running  into  snags,  dragging  over  obstacles,  and 
abuse  generally,  that  would  badly  injure  any  but  the  best  of 
wooden  canoes. 

The  variety  of  designs  for  canoes  which  has  developed 
or  been  evolved  from  the  more  primitive  forms  is  in  these 
days  almost  endless,  and  the  number  of  types  from  which 
to  choose  is  confusing.  The  purpose  for  which  the  canoe 
is  to  be  used  will  help  you  somewhat  in  selecting  the  type 
— whether  for  paddling  only,  or  sailing,  or  for  cruising  and 
general  use,  and  whether  for  a  river  or  small  pond,  or  for  the 
deep  and  rough  water  of  a  lake  or  bay.  All  these  matters 
must  be  considered  in  determining  the  beam,  depth,  shape 
of  the  midship  section,  the  draught,  degree  of  sheer, 


318          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

whether  to  have  keel,  centre-board,  or  neither,  and  other 
points.  This  is  too  complex  a  subject  to  be  treated  in  a 
hand-book  on  wood-working,  and  you  can  easily  obtain  the 
desired  information,  as  well  as  detailed  instructions  for 
drawing  the  plans,  from  some  good  book  on  the  subject. 

A  caution  against  making  the  framework  too  light  and 
without  sufficient  stiffness  may  not  be  out  of  place.  One 
frequently  sees  canoes,  made  by  young  boys,  of  such  flimsy 
pieces  and  covered  with  such  weak  cloth  that  one  is  sur- 
prised that  they  can  live  in  the  quietest  mill-pond,  which  is 
really  testimony  to  the  tenacious  strength  of  a  canvas- 
covered  boat  when  properly  made.  A  certain  degree  of 
flexibility  is  one  of  the  desirable  features  of  these  boats, 
but  they  should  always  have  sufficient  stiffness  to  maintain 
their  general  shape  in  all  weathers  and  in  all  waters  to 
which  a  canoe  is  suited ;  therefore  be  sure  to  make  a  frame 
which  will  keep  its  shape  of  itself  without  relying  upon  the 
canvas  to  hold  it  together. 

It  is  quite  common  to  see  these  boats  which  (otherwise 
well  built)  lack  stiffness  lengthways — that  is,  in  the  longi- 
tudinal vertical  section.  Such  boats  after  a  little  use  become 
bent  up  in  the  middle,  or  "  hog-backed."  This  is  entirely 
unnecessary.  Be  sure,  before  putting  on  the  canvas,  that 
your  frame  is  stiff  enough  lengthways  to  keep  its  shape  per- 
manently. If  by  any  fault  in  your  planning  you  find  that 
it  is  not  so,  be  sure  to  add  extra  stiffening  braces  inside 
before  putting  on  the  canvas,  or  your  boat  will  probably  be 
a  failure.1 

1  Unless  too  heavily  loaded,  a  canvas-covered  canoe  will  float  in  case  of  a 
capsize,  but  some  form  of  air-chambers  is  desirable  and  a  safe  precaution  in 
any  small  boat.  It  is  hardly  safe  to  rely  upon  your  ability  to  build  water- 
tight compartments  in  the  ends  of  canvas  (or  wooden)  boats,  as  is  sometimes 
recommended — that  is,  as  a  part  of  the  regular  construction  of  the  boat.  It  is 
not  easy  for  an  amateur  to  do  this.  It  is  better  to  have  the  air-tight  compart- 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  319 

Canvas-covered  boats  should  always  be  kept  out  of  the 
water  and  under  cover  when  not  in  use,  as  long-continued 
exposure  to  the  water  will  be  injurious. 

An  easily  constructed  paddling  canoe,  14'  or  15'  long, 
and  with  beam  about  30",  will  first  be  described. 

It  should  be  understood  by  the  novice  that  this  first  form 
of  construction  here  given  is  not  that  adopted  by  the  profes- 
sional boat-builder.  It  is  given  simply  as  a  process  by 
which  one  untrained  in  the  more  regular  methods  of  con- 
struction can  turn  out  a  cheap  and  serviceable  canoe,  and  at 
the  same  time  acquire  experience  which  will  be  of  use  if  he 
should  later  attempt  the  more  scientific,  but  also  more 
difficult,  details  of  construction  used  by  regular  boat- 
builders. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  Painting,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other 
references. 

Care  should  be  taken  to  select  clear,   straight-grained  stock, 
free  from  knots,  checks,  and  other  defects, 
and  thoroughly  dry. 

Having  made  your  working  drawings  for 
a  canoe  of  the  size  and  proportions  which 
you  may  think  best  to  adopt,  begin  the 
actual  work  by  getting  out  moulds  (Fig. 
433)  upon  exactly  the  same  principle  as 
in  the  case  of  the  flat-bottomed  canoe  just 
described,  except  that  they  will  be  of  curved 
outline,  as  this  is  to  be  a  round-bottomed  FlG-  433- 

ments  made  separately  and  independent  of  the  boat  itself.  Copper  boxes  or 
air-tanks  fitted  to  the  space  at  the  ends  are  the  best  and  the  only  really  reliable 
expedient,  but  they  are  expensive.  Light  wooden  boxes  covered  with  canvas 
and  thoroughly  painted  can  be  used,  as  well  as  galvanised  boxes  or  even  var- 
nish cans  sealed  and  painted.  Any  such  contrivance  can  be  made  tight  at  first, 
but  is  always  liable  to  become  leaky  (except  by  the  use  of  copper  tanks),  par- 
ticularly as  it  is  usually  concealed  from  examination. 


320          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


boat.     Get  out  also  a  bottom  strip  or   keelson  with 
stern-pieces,  which  can  be  alike. 

The  arrangement  and  method  of  fit- 
ting these  parts  is  evident  from  the  illus- 
trations. The  keelson  can  be  laid  along 
the  edge  of  a  plank  or  some  flat  surface 
and  blocked  up  towards  the  ends  to  give 
the  desired  degree  of  curvature  or 
rocker.  First  fit  in  place  the  centre 
mould  and  then  the  two  at  the  ends  of 
the  well-hole  (Fig.  434),  with  the  stem- 
and  stern-posts  (Fig.  435).  These  can 
be  temporarily  tacked  or  stayed  in 
place  until  you  are  sure  the  positions 
are  right.  The  coaming  frame  or  wash 
board  around  the  well-hole  can  now  be 
put  on,  which  will  hold  the  three  middle 
frames  securely,  and  the  two  deck-strips 
running  lengthways  from  the  well-coam- 
ing to  the  tops  of  the  stem-  and  stern- 
posts  can  be  attached  (Fig.  435).  Next 
fit  the  two  gunwale-strips,  putting  in  also 
the  remaining  moulds  or  frames.  After 
this  the  lengthways  ribbands  are  to  be 
fitted  around  the  moulds  from  bow  to 
stern  (Figs.  435  and  435a,  showing  sec- 
tion at  end  of  well).  This  will  com- 
plete the  shape  of  the  boat. 


stem-  and 


FIG.  434. 


FIG.  435. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  321 


Great  care  must  be  taken  with  all  this  adjusting  of  the  frame- 
work, measuring,  sighting,  and  testing  in  every  way  you  can 
think  of,  to  see  that  all  the  curves  are  "  fair,"  without  sharp  or 
irregular  turns,  and  also  to  see  that  both  sides  of  the  boat  are 
alike.  This  is  very  important.  The  pieces  may  be  all  of  the 
correct  lengths,  but  still  the  boat  may  be  one-sided,  or  twisted, 
or  have  a  list. 

A  glance  at  Fig.  436  will  show  (as  an  exaggerated  example) 


FIG.  435a. 


FIG.  436. 


that  pieces  of  the  right  dimensions  can  easily  be  put  together  in 
such  a  way  that  the  boat  may  be  ill-shaped,  —  an  unfortunate  re- 
sult which  is  sometimes  seen  in  home-made  boats,  due  to  lack 
of  care  in  testing  the  angles  and  curves  when  putting  the  work 
together. 

The  ends  of  these  strips  will  be  more  securely  fastened  to  the 
stem-  and  stern-posts  if  depressions  or 
"  gains  "  are  cut  in  the  posts  to  receive  them 
(Fig.  437),  but  this  is  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary if  the  ends  are  properly  bevelled  and 
carefully  screwed  to  the  stem-  and  stern-posts. 

For  additional  stiffness,  insert  a  series  of  ribs  (Fig.  435),  from 
3"  to  6"  apart,  according  to  their  size  and  stiffness,  from  bow  to 
stern.  Barrel-hooping  can  be  used  and  if  sound  is  excellent,  or 
strips  of  ash,  oak,  or  elm,  about  $"  x  £",  can  be  used.  It  will  not 
be  necessary  to  bend  these  around  a  form.  Those  near  the  mid- 
dle can  be  at  once  bent  into  place.  As  the  ends  of  the  boat  are 
approached,  the  ribs  will  require  to  be  rendered  more  pliable  be 
fore  being  put  in  place  (see  Bending  Wood}.  The  ribs  can  be 
nailed  or  screwed  to  the  keel  and  finally  be  fastened  to  the  rib- 


IG> 


322          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

bands,  at  their  intersection,  with  copper  nails  clinched  or  riveted. 
Cheaper  fastenings  can  be  used,  however,  but  copper  is  the  best. 

To  hold  such  pieces  in  place  temporarily,  clamps  can  be  easily 
made  which  will  be  sufficiently  strong  for  the  purpose  (see 
Fig.  548). 

When  all  these  parts  are  fastened  together,  the  frame  will  be 
complete. 

To  make  a  first-class  job,  the  entire  frame  should  be  thor- 
oughly painted,  or  at  least  given  a  soaking  coat  of  oil,  or  it  can 
be  varnished. 

For  the  canvas,  get  firm,  closely-woven  duck  or  sail-cloth  of 
good  quality  and  of  sufficient  width  to  reach  from  gunwale  to 
gunwale.  It  is  not  necessary  or  advantageous  to  get  the  heaviest- 
weight  grade,  but  beware  of  covering  your  boat  with  light  drilling 
or  the  like,  which,  although  you  can  make  it  water-tight,  will  not 
be  sufficiently  durable  for  anything  but  a  boat  for  temporary  use. 

Find  the  middle  of  the  canvas,  lengthways,  and  stretch  it  on 
this  line  directly  along  the  keel,  the  frame  of  the  boat  being 
placed  bottom  up.  Tack  at  each  end,  and  then,  starting  at  the 
middle,  strain  the  canvas  around  the  boat,  working  along  a  little 
way  at  a  time  towards  each  end  alternately  and  tacking  to  the  top 
or  inside  of  the  gunwale  as  you  proceed.  Do  not  try  to  cover 
the  top  with  the  same  piece  as  the  bottom.  If  you  can  get  a 
large  needle  and  some  stout  cord,  you  can  pull  the  canvas  into 
place  by  lacing  the  edges  across  the  top  or  deck  of  the  boat, 
working  from  the  middle  towards  the  ends.  In  lieu  of  a  needle 
use  an  awl  or  a  nail.  By  lacing  in  this  way  and  by  manipulating 
the  canvas  with  the  har.ds  you  can,  if  you  are  careful,  stretch  it 
to  fit  the  frame  so  that  it  will  be  smooth  to  a  point  considerably 
above  the  water-line.  At  the  upper  part,  as  you  approach  the 
deck  line  or  gunwale,  you  may  be  unable  to  prevent  some  fulness, 
which  you  can  dispose  of  by  pleating  if  necessary.  At  the  ends 
some  little  folding  under  may  also  be  required,  but  you  need  have 
no  great  difficulty  in  adjusting  the  canvas  neatly  and  so  as  to 
make  tight  joints.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  cut  a  shallow  rabbet  on 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  323 


each  side  of  the  stem-  and  stern-posts,  just  deep  enough  so  that 
when  the  edge  of  the  canvas  is  folded  under  and  tacked,  the  sur- 
face of  the  canvas  will  be  flush  with  the  side  of  the  post  (Fig. 
437).  Small  tacks  should  be  used — not  large  carpet-tacks. 
Copper  are  best,  but  galvanized  ones  can  be  used.  In  all  parts 
where  leakage  could  occur,  the  tacks  should  be  driven  closely  to- 
gether, so  that  their  heads  touch,  seeing  that  a  good  coat  of  lead 
is  laid  on  the  wood  underneath.  After  the  bottom  of  the  canoe 
has  been  covered,  the  deck  can  be  treated  in  the  same  way. 

When  the  canvas  is  all  on,  dampen  it  slightly  and  paint  thor- 
oughly, painting,  also,  the  coaming  around  the  well-hole  and  the 
exposed  parts  of  the  stem-  and  stern-posts  (see  Painting).  The 
dampening  is  supposed  to  cause  the  first  coat  of  paint  to  pene- 
trate the  canvas  more  thoroughly  than  if  the  canvas  is  quite  dry. 
Oil  is  sometimes  applied  before  painting.  After  it  has  dried 
thoroughly,  apply  another  coat.  Do  not  spare  the  paint,  for 
though  the  canvas  absorbs  a  great  deal,  which  adds  to  the  weight 
of  the  boat  as  well  as  to  the  cost,  it  is  really  essential  in  making 
a  good  canvas-covered  boat  that  it  be  well  painted. 

A  light  removable  flooring,  or  grating  of  slats,  should  be  placed 
on  the  bottom  of  the  well,  resting  on  the  frames. 

To  make  a  canvas  canoe  with  a  keel,  you  have  only  to 
make  the  keel 
of  a  piece  of  i£" 
or   i  £  "  s  t  o  c  k 
(with    a    depth 
of,  perhaps,  i^" 
or     i£"),    thin- 
ning   it    some- 
what   towards  FIG.  438. 
the  ends  so  that  it  will  join  smoothly  with  the  stem-  and 
stern-posts.      It  can  be  fitted  to  these  posts  as  shown  in 
Fig.  438,  and  screwed  directly  to  the  keelson. 


324          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Particular  care  must  be  taken  that  the  keel  be  got  out  straight 
and  that  it  be  fitted  exactly  on  the  centre  line.  In  this  case  the 
canvas  may  be  put  on  in  two  parts,  being  nailed  to  the  keelson 
on  each  side  of  the  keel;  or  the  canoe  can  be  made  as  pre- 
viously described  and  the  keel  simply  screwed  on  outside  of  the 
canvas,  the  latter  being  first  thoroughly  painted.  Oak  is  excel- 
lent for  a  keel,  but  is  rather  heavy  for  a  light  canoe.  Ash  will 
do.  Pine  can  be  used.  The  keel  will  wear  better  if  got  out  so 
that  the  concentric  rings  (annual  rings)  of  the  wood  will  be  hori- 
zontal or  parallel  with  the  bottom  of  the  boat  and  at  right  angles 
to  the  screws  with  which  the  keel  is  fastened  on.  If  these  layers 
incline  slightly  upward  at  the  bow  the  keel  will  wear  better. 

A  more  advanced  form  of  construction,  and  one  more  in 
line  with  the  methods  of  a  regular  boat-builder,  is  shown  in 


FIG.  439. 

Fig.  439,  the  essential  difference  between  this  and  the 
form  previously  described  being  that  regular  bent  ribs  are 
substituted  for  the  frames  made  of  board,  and  the  latter, 
after  serving  as  moulds  around  which  to  build  the  boat,  are 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  325 

taken  out,  the  bent  ribs  being  sufficiently  stout  to  ensure 
strength  and  stiffness. 

If  you  attempt  this  method  the  ribs  must  be  carefully  bent  (see 
Bending  Wood}.  Oak,  ash,  or  elm  is  suitable  for  ribs.  If  a 
cooper's  shop  is  within  reach  you  can  get  the  material  there.  It 
must,  of  course,  be  of  good  grain  and  free  from  flaws. 

The  process  of  construction  is  similar  to  that  already  shown. 
A  suggestion  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  deck  timbers  (which 
can  be  of  oak,  ash,  spruce,  or 
any  strong  wood)  is  shown  in 
Figs.  439  and  440,  and  for  put- 
ting in  a  curved  wash  board  or 
coaming  in  Fig.  440.  For  the 
latter  a  thin  piece  of  straight-  PIG> 

grained  oak,  elm,  or  ash  can  be  used. 

An  excellent  way  to  make  a  canvas-covered  canoe  is  shown 
in  Fig.  441.  The  essential  principle  of  this  consists  in  having 
a  stiff  gunwale,  stiff  keelson  (inside  the  ribs),  and  ribs  stout 
and  numerous  enough  to  ensure  a  permanently  strong  and 
stiff  framework  without  the  assistance  of  the  lengthways 
ribbands.  The  outside  is  then  sheathed  with  very  thin 
strips  of  basswood,  pine,  or  any  reasonably  strong  and  light 

wood  (perhaps  -^"  thick  and  2" 
or  3"  wide),  fitting  them  carefully 
to  the  shape,  but  without  any  at- 
tempt to  make  water-tight  joints. 
If  this  boat,  which  is  complete  in 
all  respects  except  that  of  being 
water-tight,  is  then  covered  with 
canvas  as  already  described,  the  re- 
sult will  be  a  strong,  smooth  boat,  without  the  irregularities  of 
surface  which  are  a  necessary  feature  of  the  unsheathed  form, 


326          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

This  method  is  adopted  in  making  canvas-covered  canoes 
after  the  model  of  the  birch-bark  canoe,  and  the  result  is  an 
admirable  boat,  which,  while  perhaps  hardly  equal  to  a 
genuine  "  birch  "  of  Indian  manufacture,  is  certainly  the 
next  thing  to  it  for  an  open  paddling  canoe.  Of  course,  if 
you  can  work  up  your  design  after  the  model  of  a  real 
birch,  you  will  have  accomplished  as  much  as  you  could 
wish  in  this  line — but  to  design  and  construct  a  good  canoe 
upon  the  birch  model  is  not  an  easy  thing  for  the  beginner 
to  do,  and  had  best  not  be  attempted  until  after  consider- 
able experience  in  simpler  and  less  graceful  forms.  This 
mode  of  construction  can  well  be  applied,  however,  to  a 
canoe  of  almost  any  type.  The  sheathing  can  be  painted 
and  the  canvas  laid  on  the  fresh  paint. 

Another  form  of  construction  is  to  omit  the  keelson  and 
fasten  the  frames  and  ribs  directly  to  the  top  of  the  keel, 
having  previously  cut  a  rabbet  for  the  canvas  (as  in  case  of 
the  stem-  and  stern-posts)  on  each  side  of  the  keel  at  the 
top;  the  canvas  by  this  arrangement  being  put  on  in  two 
parts,  one  on  each  side  of  the  keel. 

It  is,  of  course,  possible  to  construct  a  canoe  with  nothing 
but  two  gunwale-strips,  stem-  and  stern-posts,  a  strip  for  a 
keelson,  and  a  number  of  barrel-hoops  for  ribs;  and  such 
affairs  are  quite  often  put  together  by  boys,  but  they  are 
apt  to  be  of  light  and  flimsy  construction  and  to  lack  suffi- 
cient stiffness  to  keep  their  shape  after  being  used  for  a 
while.  A  certain  degree  of  flexibility  and  lack  of  rigidity  is 
desirable  in  a  canvas-covered  boat,  and,  in  fact,  it  is  to  this 
quality  that  it  owes  much  of  its  merit ;  but  it  should  have 
enough  stiffness  to  hold  its  general  shape  permanently. 

An  extremely  simple  method  is  to  omit  the  stem-pieces 
and  simply  bend  the  keelson  up  at  each  end  to  meet  the 
gunwales  at  bow  and  stern,  where  all  the  lengthways  pieces 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  327 

can  be  fastened  to  a  block,  canvas  being  stretched  over  the 
whole  as  already  described.  A  canoe  which  turns  up  so 
excessively  on  the  bottom  at  bow  and  stern  has  some  dis- 
advantages, but  still  a  useful  and  cheap  boat  can  readily  be 
made  in  this  way.  It  should  have  a  quite  flat  cross-section 
in  the  middle. 

Most  canoes  can  be  sailed  on  the  wind,  often  very  suc- 
cessfully, by  having  a  deep  keel — which  can  be  rockered  or 
increased  in  depth  towards  the  middle — or  by  adding  a 
centre-board.  But  the  latter  is  quite  a  nice  operation,  par- 
ticularly so  in  case  of  making  your  first  boat  (see  page  330). 

The  holes  and  the  steps  for  the  masts  should  be  arranged  be- 
fore the  canvas  is  put  on,  fitting  extra  thwarts  across  if  needed, 
and  it  is  a  good  plan  to  fit  tubes  for  the  masts.  In  case  of  sail- 
ing, the  steering  can  be  done  with  the  paddle,  or  a  rudder  can  be 
used  (in  which  case  a  straight  stern-post  should  be  put  in,  for 
which  a  knee  is  good)  and  lines  be  led  forward  to  the  well-hole 
from  a  yoke  at  the  top  of  the  rudder.  Many  arrangements  have 
been  devised  for  steering  sailing-canoes,  but  these  details,  as  well 
as  those  for  the  rigging,  can  be  found  in  any  good  book  on  the 
subject.  If  you  are  a  novice,  begin  with  a  simple  leg-of-mutton 
sail  (Fig.  448). 

It  is  better  to  buy  oars  than  to  try  to  make  them.     You 
may,  however,  have  occasion 
to  make   a  paddle.     A  good 
shape  is  shown   in  Fig.  442, 
but  you    can  choose  from  a  FIG.  442. 

variety  of  forms. 

The  length  can  readily  be  determined  from  some  paddle  which 
suits  you  or  you  can  experiment  with  a  strip  of  wood.  Five 
inches  is  a  good  width,  and  5'  to  5^'  a  good  length,  but  these  are 
matters  of  individual  preference.  Spruce  is  a  good  wood  for 


328          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

your  first  attempt  at  paddle-making.  It  makes  a  good  paddle 
and  is  easier  to  work  than  birch,  beech,  or  maple,  or  any  of  the 
harder  woods.  Pine  can  be  used.  Use  a  centre  line  in  making 
your  pattern.  After  the  pattern  is  marked  on  the  wood  have  the 
outline  sawed  at  a  mill  or  do  it  yourself  with  the  turning-saw, 
or  make  a  series  of  saw-kerfs  to  the  line  with  the  hand-saw  and 
remove  the  superfluous  wood  with  the  draw-knife,  spokeshave,  or 
chisel  (see  Paring).  Having  the  outline  correct,  mark  a  line 
along  the  middle  of  the  edge  of  the  blade,  and  gradually  and 
carefully  shave  the  surfaces  down  towards  this  middle  line,  also 
tapering  the  thickness  towards  the  ends.  The  draw-knife,  spoke- 
shave,  plane,  rasp,  file,  scraper,  and  sandpaper  can  be  used  (see 
all  of  these  tools  in  Part  V.  and  also  Paring  and  Rounding  Sticks}. 
Great  care  is  needed  to  trim  a  paddle  nicely  to  shape.  A  little 
hasty  cutting  may  ruin  the  work. 

The  double-bladed  paddle  can  be  made  of  a  single  piece,  or 
two  pieces  can  be  joined  by  a  ferrule  (Fig.  443).  The  double- 
bladed  paddle  can  be  from  about  7'  to  8'  or  9'  long  and  the  blades 

are  made  broader  and 
shorter  than  that    of 

the  single  paddle.     A 
FIG.  443. 

couple  of  round  rub- 
ber rings  on  each  end  of  the  handle  will  stop  some  of  the  drip- 
ping of  water  from  the  blades  as  they  are  raised. 

Small  Sail-boat. — The  boat  shown  in  Fig.  444  is  a  good 
form  for  the  amateur  to  attempt,  and  makes  a  serviceable 
craft  for  sheltered  waters.  From  twelve  to  sixteen  feet  is  a 
good  length,  and  the  beam  should  be  wide,  as  shown.  The 
depth  can  be  from  twelve  to  sixteen  inches. 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  Nailing,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  refer- 
ences. 

Care  should  be  taken  to  select  clear,  straight-grained  stock, 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  329 


free  from  knots,  checks,  and  other  defects,  and  thoroughly  dry. 
Pine  is  excellent. 

The  general  principle  of  construction  does  not  differ  from  that 
of  the  flat-bottomed  boats  already  described,  and  detailed  direc- 


FIG.  444. 

tions  are  therefore  omitted.  The  sides  should  each  be  of  one 
f"  or  •£"  board.  The  arrangement  of  the  details  is  obvious. 
Knees  can  be  used  to  good  advantage.  The  deck  should  be  of 
wood,  the  boards  (£*)  resting  on  cross-beams  or  carlins,  reaching 
from  gunwale  to  gunwale  (as  already  shown)  and  slightly  arched. 
Around  the  well-hole,  brackets  can  be  used  (Fig.  445).  The 
deck  can  be  covered  with  canvas. 

This  boat,  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  is  planked  across  the 

bottom  like  the  other  flat-bottomed  boats 

already  described,  but  the  bottom  boards 
can  run  lengthways  instead,  if  preferred. 

In  this  case  knees  should  be  inserted,  or 
FIG.  445.  •  ..  . 

cross-frames  of  some  kind,  to  reach  across 

the  bottom  and  to  which  the  bottom  boards  can  be  nailed.  The 
bottom  boards  should  be  not  less  than  f"  thick  and  the  edges 
must  be  carefully  jointed  (see  Jointing).  They  can  be  laid 


33°          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  446. 


slightly  apart  and  the  seams  caulked  (see  page  302).     Strips  of 

flannel  laid  in  thick  white-lead  paint  can  be  placed  between  the 

edges  of  the  sides  and  stern 
and  the  bottom  boards,  or 
the  edges  can  simply  be 
painted. 

The  construction  of  the 
case  or  trunk  for  the  cen- 
tre-board can  be  under- 
stood from  Figs.  446  and 
447.  By  either  method  of 
construction  the  trunk  con- 
sists of  two  upright  posts, 
or  "  headledges, "  cut  with 
shoulders  at  the  lower  end, 

and   sides  of  board    screwed    to  these  posts.     A    slot  is  sawed 

through  the  bottom  of  the  boat  of  sufficient  width  and  length  to 

give  the  centre-board  free  passage — that  is,  of  the  dimensions  of 

the  opening  at  the  bottom  of  the  trunk.     To  cut  this  slot  several 

holes  can   be   bored   close   together   until  an  opening  is    made 

sufficiently  large  to  start  the  saw. 

By   the   arrangement    shown   in 

Fig.  446,  a  plank  is  taken  and  a 

slot  is  cut   in  it   enough  longer 

than  that  in  the  bottom  of  the 

boat  to  include  the  lower  ends  of 

the  headledges,  which  should  fit 

snugly.    The  sides  of  the  trunk 

are  screwed  to  this  plank  from 

underneath,  and  the  plank  is  in 

turn  screwed  to  the  bottom  of  the 

boat.     The   headledges  can    be 

additionally    fastened    from  the 

edge  of  the  plank,  horizontally.     Unless  the  bottom  of  the  boat 

is  straight,  the  plank  must  be  accurately  fitted  to  the  curve  on  the 


FIG.  447. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  331 

under  side, — not  an  easy  task  (see  Scribing  and  Paring).  All  the 
joints  should  be  laid  in  thick  white-lead  paint,  and  at  the  bottom 
flannel  can  be  laid  in  the  seam,  with  lead,  or  caulking  can  be  re- 
sorted to. 

By  the  method  shown  in  Fig.  447,  the  headledges  and  sides 
are  fitted  to  a  board  on  the  bottom,  or  to  the  keelson,  and,  after 
being  put  in  place,  strips  of  plank  are  fitted  lengthways  on  each 
side  at  the  bottom  and  bolted  or  screwed  to  the  bottom  and  to 
the  sides  of  the  trunk.  The  lower  edges  of  these  strips  must  be 
fitted  to  the  curve  of  the  bottom  and  the  whole  made  tight,  as 
just  shown.  Much  care  must  be  taken  with  this  work  to  make 
tight  joints.  The  inside  of  the  trunk  should  be  painted  before 
putting  together,  and  holes  be  bored  carefully  for  all  the  screws 
(see  Boring  and  Screws). 

The  centre-board  itself  can  be  of  wood  or  of  galvanized  plate 
iron  and  is  pivoted  at  the  forward  lower  corner,  and  can  be  raised 
and  lowered  by  a  rod  attached  to  the  after  corner. 

Remember  to  paint  the  inside  of  the  boat  carefully  with  at 
least  two  coats  before  putting  on  the  deck,  and  also  that  copper 
nails  and  brass  fittings  are  better  than  those  of  galvanized  iron 
(particularly  for  salt  water)  if  you  can  afford  them. 

The  coaming  or  wash  board  can  be  of  \"  oak,  ash,  or  elm. 
The  deck  can  first  be  laid,  lapping  slightly  over  the  space  to  be 
left  open.  The  line  for  the  coaming  can  then  be  marked  on  the 
deck,  and  the  projecting  wood  sawed  or  trimmed  to  the  line, 
when  the  coaming  can  be  bent  into  place  and  fastened. 

The  gunwale-strip,  like  the  stern-post,  the  rudder,  and  the 
tiller,  should  be  of  hard  wood,  as  oak.  Hackmatack  is  good  for 
the  stem. 

The  mast  should  be  of  spruce.  A  strong  thwart,  with  a  hole 
in  it,  can  be  fitted  across  between  the  sides,  just  under  the  deck, 
and  a  block  with  another  hole  fastened  to  the  bottom.  The 
place  at  which  to  step  the  mast  must  depend  upon  the  style  of  rig 
you  adopt. 

One  who  is  used  to  sailing  a  boat  will  not  seek  for  information 


332         Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

on  this  subject  in  a  manual  on  wood-working,  but  for  the  novice 
it  may  be  well  to  state  that  a  leg-of-mutton  sail  (Fig.  448)  is  un- 
doubtedly the  simplest,  easiest,  and  safest  rig  for  the  beginner, 
and  it  will  be  wise  to  learn  to  manage  this  rig  first.  The  sprit- 


FIG.  448.  FIG.  449. 

sail  (Fig  449),  with  or  without  the  boom,  is  an  easily  managed 
sail,  which  works  well  with  this  boat.  Either  of  these  rigs  can 
be  unshipped  in  a  moment,  the  mast,  sail  and  all  being  lifted  out 
when  desired.  For  other  styles  of  rigging  you  should  consult 
someone  used  to  sailing  or  some  book  on  the  subject. 
For  the  painting,  see  Painting,  in  Part  V. 

Small  Ice-Boat. — The  main  framework  of  even  the  most 
elaborate  ice-boat  consists  merely  of  a  lengthways  centre 
timber  or  "backbone"  and  a  cross-piece  or  "runner- 
board  "  (Fig.  450),  the  whole  resting  on  three  runners,  one 
of  which  acts  as  a  rudder. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  333 

Before  beginning  work  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square, 
Saw,  Plane,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

A  small  boat  can  be  made  as  shown  in  Fig.  451.     The  dimen- 


Fio.  450. 

sions  can  easily  be  altered.     The  particular  rig  given  is  merely 
for  illustration,  for  this  is  not  a  book  on  sailing,  and  you  can  find 


FIG.  451. 

all  the  facts  you  need  about  rigging  in  any  good  book  on  the 
subject.     If  you  are  a  novice  you  had  best  be  content  with  a 


334          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

simple  leg-of-mutton  sail  (Fig.  448),  which  is,  for  the  beginner, 
the  safest  and  most  easily  managed.  A  sprit-sail  (Fig.  449)  or 
some  other  simple  form  can  be  used  if  desired.  If  you  know 
how  to  sail  a  boat,  you  can  adopt  such  rig  as  you  think  best. 

First  get  out  the  backbone.  Get  a  piece  of  clear  spruce,  or 
pine,  perhaps  12'  x  3"  x  4" '.  A  round  spar  may  be  used.  Be 
careful  to  select  good  lumber,  as  great  strain  is  put  upon  it.  A 
piece  which  has  naturally  sprung  lengthways  should  be  placed 
with  the  convex  edge  upwards.  Next  get  out  the  runner-board, 
perhaps  6£'  x  z"  x  9",  of  spruce.  Pine  is  also  good,  or  any 
strong  wood  will  do.  Choose  a  clear,  sound  plank.  If  naturally 
sprung  in  a  bow-like  curve,  put  the  convex  side  upwards.  Smooth 
the  pieces  sufficiently  to  avoid  splinters  and  roughness.  Thin 
the  runner-plank  on  top  each  way  from  the  centre  down  to  about 
an  inch  in  thickness  at  each  end,  if  you  can  have  it  sawed  at  the 
mill.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  do  this  by  hand.  Fasten  the 
runner-board,  at  exactly  the  middle  of  its  length,  across  the  back- 
bone, at  a  point  perhaps  6£'  from  the  stern  end,  with  a  strap-hanger 
(Fig.  452)  screwed  up  with  nuts  and  broad  washers  on  the  under 
side.  If  you  cannot  afford  this,  put  a  bolt  through  both  pieces 

(see  Boring},  tightening 
underneath  with  nut  and 
washer,  and  putting 
cleats  on  the  runner- 
board  (Fig.  453).  Be 
sure  that  one  edge  of  the 
runner-board  is  straight 
and  at  right  angles  to  the 
FlG<  452'  FlG-  453"  backbone.  Nail  a  piece 

of  board,  18*  long  and  3*  wide,  across  the  stern  end  of  the  centre 
timber.  Add  the  two  side  pieces  a  b  and  c  d  (Fig.  450),  of  2" 
spruce  joist,  nailing  them  firmly  in  place,  thus  forming  the  sides 
of  an  irregular  box  (see  Nailing).  Turn  the  frame  over  and 
nail  a  bottom  on  this  box,  laying  the  boards  crosswise  and  nail- 
ing to  the  backbone  as  well  as  to  the  sides  and  end. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  335 

Next,  to  make  the  runners,  get  out  six  pieces  of  oak,  or  other 
hard,  strong  wood,  9"  x  3"  x  4".  Mark  with  the  square  from  the 
straightened  edge  of  the  runner-board  the  positions  for  the  inner 
blocks,  equally  distant  from  the  backbone,  screwing  them  in 
place  (Fig.  454),  with  one  screw  in  each.  Measure  across  with 
a  stick  from  one 
to  the  other  at 
each  end  to  see 
that  they  are  just 
parallel,  and  also 

test  their  being  at  "FIG.  454. 

right  angles  to  the 
runner-plank,  which  in  turn  must  be  at  right  angles  to  the  back- 
bone, in  order  that  the  runners  may  be  parallel  and  not  slewed  side- 
ways. Having  tightly  screwed  these  inner  blocks,  brace  them  with 
angle  blocks,  as  shown.  The  outer  blocks  can  next  be  fitted,  leav- 
ing just  space  enough  for  the  runners  to  play  freely,  but  not  loosely, 
between  the  blocks.  The  holes  for  the  pins  for  the  runners  can 
be  bored  in  the  outer  pieces  before  they  are  screwed  on.  Then, 
using  these  holes  as  a  guide,  those  in  the  inner  blocks  can  be 
bored  in  line.  The  runners  themselves  should  be  carefully  made 
and  fitted,  for  they  are  a  very  vital  part  of  the  boat.  On  the 
large  boats  they  have  usually  been  made  of  oak,  with  a  shoe  of 
cast  iron  at  the  bottom  attached  by  bolts,  but  this  is  quite  a  piece 
of  work  for  a  small  boat  and  you  can  get  the  blacksmith  to  work 
out  the  whole  runner,  with  a  hole  bored  for  the  pin-bolt.  Make 
a  pattern  about  18"  or  20"  long,  rocking  very  slightly  in  the  middle 
and  more  quickly  near  the  ends.  The  hole  for  the  pin 
should  be  back  of  the  middle,  so  that  more  of  the  shoe 
will  be  in  front  of  than  behind  the  pin.  This  is  to  les- 
T^  sen  the  shock  when  the  runner  strikes  an  obstruction. 

P  iLr.     455* 

The  cutting  edge  may  have  an  angle  of  about  45°  for 
trial  (Fig.  455).  If  too  blunt  or  too  sharp  you  can  alter  it. 
It  will  take  considerable  filing  to  get  the  edge  true,  straight,  and 
uniform  (see  Filing}.  Finish  with  an  oil-stone. 


336          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  456. 


The  rudder-runner  can  be  a  little  shorter.  Screw  a  piece  of  2" 
oak  plank  on  top  of  the  rudder-blocks  and  on  top  of  this  fasten 
a  plate  or  socket  to  which  is  attached  a  piece  of  gas-pipe  about  a 
foot  long,  for  a  rudder-post.  At  the  top  of  the  rudder-post  screw 
an  elbow  and  a  short  piece  of  pipe  for 
a  tiller  (Fig.  456).  If  suitable  gas-pipe 
cannot  be  found,  the  blacksmith  can  fix 
an  arrangement  that  will  answer,  but  it 
must  be  strongly  fastened  to  the  rudder- 
blocks,  and  there  should  be  some  kind  of 
metal  bearing  between  the  wooden  top  of 
the  rudder  and  the  under  side  of  the  backbone,  if  nothing  more 
than  a  washer.  The  two  surfaces  of  wood  should  not  rub  against 
each  other.  Wind  the  handle  of  the  tiller  with  cord,  cloth,  or 
bicycle  tape. 

Stay  the  bowsprit  (or  forward  end  of  the  backbone)  by  stout 
wires  to  the  runner-plank.  These  can  best  be  of  wire  rope  passed 
through  eye-bolts  or  attached  to  iron  straps  and  tightened  with 
turnbuckles,  but  to  save  that  expense  strong  wire  can  be  used. 
Notches  can  be  cut  at  the  edges  of  the  runner-plank  and  the 
backbone,  and  wire  be  wound  around  to  hold  rings  to  which  the 
wire  guys  can  be  fastened,  but  it  is  hard  to  make  such  an  ar- 
rangement taut  and  to  keep  it  so.  Next  fasten  a  mast  step  with 
square  hole  to  the  backbone  (Fig.  457),  forward  of  the  front 
edge  of  the  run- 
ner-plank. Put 
i  n  eye-bolts  at 
ends  of  the  run- 
ner-plank and  at 
the  bow  for 
shrouds  and  a  few 
inches  from  the  stern  of  the  backbone  for  the  main  sheet.  Wire 
rope  is  best  for  the  shrouds,  but  common  wire  or  rope  can  be  used. 
For  the  mast  and  spars  use  natural  sticks  of  spruce.  The 
sides  of  the  box  can  be  built  up  higher  at  the  stern  with  boards, 


FIG.  457. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  337 

if  you  wish,  to  prevent  being  thrown  off  by  the  sudden  move- 
ments of  the  boat.  A  rubber  washer  under  the  backbone  where 
the  rudder-post  passes  through  is  sometimes  used  to  lessen  the 
jar  when  passing  over  obstructions.  A  curved  piece  of  wood 
fastened  on  the  under  side  of  the  backbone  just  in  front  of  the 
rudder  will  act  as  a  fender  for  the  rudder,  in  case  of  slight 
obstructions. 

The  whole  boat  can  be  oiled,  painted,  or  varnished  if  desired 
(see  Finishing  and  Painting}. 

If  you  use  a  cat-rig,  sprit-sail,  or  other  rig  without  any  head-sail 
before  the  mast,  it  would  be  well  to  place  the  runner-plank  further 
forward. 


FIG.  458. 

The  latest  and  best  way  to  brace  the  frame  of  an  ice-boat  is  to 
strain  guys  of  wire  rope  (Fig.  458),  tightened  with  turnbuckles, 
omitting  the  side  pieces,  and  fastening  a  car  or  box  to  the  back- 
bone, but  this  arrangement,  though  lighter  and  more  elastic,  is 
more  expensive  and  not  so  easy  to  make  for  a  small  boat  as  the 
one  just  described. 

A  somewhat  simpler  way  to  arrange  the  framework  is  shown  in 
Figs.  459,  460,  and  461.  In  place  of  the  runners  already  de- 
scribed a  cheaper  arrangement  can  be  made  by  the  blacksmith 
of  f"  bar  iron,  steeled,  and  bent  up  at  the  ends,  as  shown  in  Fig. 
461. 


338          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


A  much  smaller  affair  can  be  made  by  simply  arranging  two 
pieces  of  joist  or  plank  in  the  form  of  a  cross  (bracing  them  so 
far  as  may  be  necessary),  putting  cleats  under  each  end  of  the 
shorter  cross-piece  or  runner-board  and  fastening  common  skates 

to  the  cleats,  using  another 
pivoted  skate  at  the  stern  for 
a  rudder.  The  runners  of 
the  skates  should  be  ground, 
or  filed,  as  shown  above. 

The  details  of  such  a  small 
ice-boat  you  can  work  out 
for  yourself  by  modifying 
and  simplifying  according  to 
your  ingenuity  the  sugges- 
tions for  a  larger  boat  given 
above.  The  hardest  part  to 
fix  is  the  rudder-post  and 
tiller.  Some  iron  arrange- 
ment is  best,  but  something 
can  be  contrived  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner,  which  is  not, 

<IG.  460.  however,    recommended    as 

_=J^_igt|  very  satisfactory.  Fasten  the  rudder  skate 
upon  a  piece  of  board  in  which  is  cut  a  mor- 
tise. Into  this  mortise  a  short  piece  of  hard 
wood,  like  a  large  broomstick  with  squared 
end,  is  fitted  for  a  rudder-post.  The  upper  end  of  the  rudder- 
post,  squared  just  like  the  lower  end,  is  fitted  into  a  mortise  cut 
in  the  tiller  piece.  A  washer  should  be  placed  between  the  skate- 
block  and  the  backbone,  and  the  rudder-post  should  turn  freely 
in  the  hole  in  the  backbone,  but  not  loosely  enough  to  wobble 
around.  Cut  the  mortise  in  the  tiller  and  fit  to  the  post  before 
cutting  off  and  shaping  the  tiller,  to  avoid  danger  of  splitting. 
An  extra  block  may  have  to  be  put  under  the  backbone  at  the 
rudder  to  level  the  boat  so  that  the  skates  will  bear  properly  on 


FIG.  461. 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  339 

the  ice,  for  if  the  stern  is  much  lower,  so  that  they  drag  by  the 
heels,  the  boat  will  not  sail  properly.  Wooden  arrangements  of 
this  sort  are,  however,  only  justifiable  as  makeshifts,  and  require 
good  workmanship  to  be  strong  and  effective. 

House-Boat. — A  house-boat  consists  of  two  parts,  one  of 
which  (the  boat)  is  essentially  like  the  scow  or  flat  boat 


already  described,  and  the  other  (the  house)  is  usually  much 
the  same  as  some  of  the  little  structures  described  in  Part 
III.  (House-building  for  Beginners),  however  expensively 
and  elaborately  it  may  be  arranged  and  fitted  up.  The 
advantages  of  the  house-boat  for  camping,  shooting,  fishing, 
and  for  some  kinds  of  excursions  are  too  well  known  to  re- 
quire explanation.  It  is  an  excellent  thing  for  two  or  more 
to  build  together.  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  suggest 
that,  in  the  desire  to  have  the  house  sufficiently  large  and 
convenient,  you  should  not  be  misled  into  making  plans 
which  will  necessitate  building  a  large  boat.  Dimensions 
(on  paper)  for  such  things  are  quite  deceptive,  and  to  build  a 
large  boat,  even  of  such  a  simple  type  as  the  scow  or 


340          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

flatboat,  is  quite  a  serious  undertaking  for  the  beginner — as 
regards  both  labour  and  expense. 

If  you  can  find  a  scow  or  flatboat  already  built,  of  suitable 
dimensions  and  which  is  sufficiently  tight,  or  can  be  made  so  by 
caulking,  you  have  only  to  proceed  to  build  the  house  upon  it. 
If,  however,  the  boat  as  well  as  the  house  is  to  be  built,  you  can 


FIG.  462. 

proceed  to  build  the  boat  in  the  way  already  described  (page  299). 
Additional  suggestions  may  be  found  in  Figs.  462  and  463. 

Before  beginning  read  carefully  Marking,  Rule,  Square,  Saw, 
Plane,  Nailing,  in  Part  V.,  and  look  up  any  other  references. 

Two-inch  plank  should  be  used  for  these  boats,  which  are  in- 
tended to  be  from  14'  to  20'  long.  After  putting  together  the 
sides,  ends,  and  bottom,  as  already  described,  2*  x  4*  joists  can 
be  laid  lengthways  on  the  bottom,  as  shown,  which  will  afford  an 
underpinning  for  the  house,  will  distribute  the  weight  over  the 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  341 

bottom,  keep  the  floor  raised  above  the  water  which  may  leak  in 
or  collect  from  the  rain,  and  also  stiffen  the  structure  of  the 
boat.  Before  laying  these  joists,  notches  should  be  cut  on  the 
under  edges  with  the  saw  or  hatchet,  in  several  places,  to  allow 
the  water  to  pass  through,  as  in  the  case  of  the  boats  already 
described. 

The  illustrations  show  a  general  system  of  construction  for  the 


FIG.  463. 

house,  which  can  be  followed,  or  you  can  make  such  alterations 
as  you  think  desirable.  In  addition  to  the  suggestions  in  the 
accompanying  illustrations,  further  details  and  suggestions  will 
be  found  in  Part  III.  {House-building  for  Beginners).  Most  of 
the  details  are  matters  of  personal  preference,  and  can  readily  be 
arranged  without  more  detailed  description.  The  roof  had  best 
be  covered  with  canvas,  put  on  as  one  piece  (being  sewed  pre- 
viously if  necessary).  If  laid  in  paint  and  then  given  two  or 
three  coats  of  paint,  much  as  in  the  case  of  the  canvas-sheathed 
canoes  already  described,  a  tight  and  durable  roof  will  be  the 


342          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

result.  After  the  edges  of  the  canvas  are  tacked  under  the  edge 
of  the  roof,  strips  of  moulding  can  be  nailed  around  under  the 
edge. 

An  even  simpler  way  to  make  the  roof  is  to  have  it  flat,  but 
slanting  slightly  towards  either  bow  or  stern.  An  inclination  of  3" 
is  enough,  with  tight  canvas  roof,  to  shed  the  water. 

The  remaining  details  of  the  construction  of  the  house  have 
already  been  treated.  The  interior  arrangements  you  can  con- 
trive as  desired. 

Either,  or  both,  of  the  ends  can  be  decked  over,  or  the  whole 
can  first  be  decked  over  and  the  house  built  on  the  deck.  In 
this  case,  access  to  the  hull,  for  stowage,  can  be  had  by  hatches, 
or  trap-doors  inside  the  house.  If  both  the  ends  are  to  be 
decked,  the  hull  can  very  well  have  one  or  two  lengthways  divi- 
sions of  plank,  for  stiffness  and  strength, — that  is,  insert  between 
the  ends  one  or  two  pieces  of  the  size  and  shape  of  the  sides,  in 
which  case  the  lengthways  joist  already  spoken  of  will  be  omitted. 
This  is  a  good  way.  In  case  of  decking,  nail  a  strip  of  moulding 
on  the  outside  along  the  juncture  of  the  house  and  the  deck,  so 
as  to  make  a  tight  joint,  which  should  be  well  painted. 

If  one  or  both  ends  are  undecked,  a  removable  grating  of  slats 
(a  part  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  462)  will  be  useful. 

It  is  well  to  have  at  least  one  window  at  the  bow  end  of  the 
house,  for  the  boat  will  of  course  lie  with  bow  towards  the  wind 
and  it  will  be  a  good  thing  when  housed  in  a  storm  to  be  able  to 
see  to  windward,  as  you  cannot  well  keep  the  door  at  that  end 
open,  while  the  after  door  will  usually  be  sufficiently  sheltered  to 
be  left  open.  Many  modifications  of  these  simple  plans  can  be 
made.  The  roof  can  be  extended  over  either  end,  which  is  easily 
done  without  altering  the  system  of  construction.  This  is  very 
convenient  under  some  circumstances,  and  will  add  but  little  to 
the  expense.  The  frame  can  even  be  covered  with  canvas,  but 
this  will  be  inferior  to  wood,  except  in  point  of  lightness.  A 
solid  roof  is  best,  however,  in  any  case. 

Sweeps  must,  of  course,  be  provided  for  rowing,  sculling,  or 


Boat-Building  for  Beginners  343 

steering,  and  a  mast  can  easily  be  added,  on  which  sufficient  sail 
can  be  hoisted  to  be  quite  a  help  in  going  before  the  wind.  If 
a  mast  is  used,  the  door  at  the  bow  end  of  the  house  can  be  at  one 
side  of  the  end  so  that  the  mast  can  be  close  to  the  house,  to  which 
it  can  be  fastened.  A  rudder  can  be  added,  if  desired,  with  a 
skag. 

The  whole  craft  should  be  thoroughly  painted  (see  Painting). 

Houses  are  sometimes  built  on  rafts.  This  will  do  very  well 
if  the  raft  is  a  good  one,  like  a  float.  A  float  can  be  easily  made, 
if  you  have  the  materials,  by  laying  a  thick  flooring  on  logs  or 
heavy  timbers  and  providing  greater  buoyancy  than  such  a  plat- 
form naturally  has  by  fastening  under  it,  between  the  timbers, 
as  many  empty  and  sealed  barrels  or  casks  (oil-barrels  are  good) 
as  may  be  necessary.  When  the  float  is  stationary  and  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  there  is,  of  course,  no  need  to  fasten 
the  casks  in  any  way  except  to  fence  them  around  so  that  they 
cannot  roll  or  slide  out,  as  their  buoyancy  will  prevent  their 
escaping,  but  it  is  easy  to  fasten  them  by  chains  or  otherwise  if 
needed.  This  makes  an  excellent  foundation  on  which  to  build 
a  house,  and  has  some  advantages  over  a  boat  for  a  stationary 
arrangement,  but  is  obviously  not  as  well  suited  for  moving 
around  as  a  scow  or  flatboat. 


PART  V 

COMMON   TOOLS  AND    THEIR    USE,    WITH  SOME 
EVER Y-DA  Y  OPERA  TIONS 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Anvil. — An  anvil  is  often  useful  and  is  sometimes  combined 
with  a  vise.  It  should  have  a  flat  steel  surface  and  also  a  taper- 
ing, rounded  (conical)  point.  An  old  flat-iron  does  quite  well. 

Auger- Bit.— See  Bits. 

Awl. — The  Bradawl  is  the  simplest  boring  tool  you  will  use. 
Unlike  gimlets  and  bits,  it  does  not  take  out  any  wood,  but  merely 
presses  it  aside  out  of  the  way,  which  is  good  for  nail  and  screw 
holes,  because  the  elasticity  of  the  woody  fibres  tends  to  make 
them  spring  back  and  close  around  the  nail  or  screw,  thus  help- 
ing to  keep  it  in  place.  The  awl  should  always  be  a  trifle  smaller 

than  the  nail.  Bore  with 
the  cutting  edge  across 
the  grain  of  the  wood,  on 
the  same  principle  as  in 
driving  nails  (Fig.  464), 
lest  the  wedge  shape  of 
the  tool  cause  the  wood  to 
FIG.  464.  sPJit  (see  Na  iling  )  . 

P  r  es  s    the    awl    straight 

down  in  this  position  until  the  point  is  well  into  the  wood,  when 
you  can  twist  it  a  little,  at  the  same  time  pushing  it  further  into 
the  wood.  There  is  always  risk  of  splitting  thin  wood  near  an 

344 


Tools  and  Operations  345 

edge,  unless  you  use  great  care.  The  bradawl  can  be  sharpened 
easily.  See  Sharpening  and  also  Boring. 

Do  not  buy  combination  awls  with  "  tool-chest  handles,"  filled 
with  an  assortment  of  awls  and  little  chisels,  gouges,  screw-drivers, 
saws,  etc.  Such  affairs  are  sometimes  useful,  but  the  loose  tools 
are  apt  to  become  lost  or  broken,  and  the  money  can  be  used  to 
better  advantage  in  other  ways. 

It  is  well  to  have  a  variety  of  sizes  of  awls,  fitted  into  hard- 
wood handles.  An  awl  handle  into  which  awls  of  various  sizes 
can  be  fitted,  somewhat  as  a  brace  holds  bits,  answers  very  well, 
if  you  have  to  carry  your  tools  from  place  to  place,  but  for  shop- 
work  it  is  more  convenient  to  have  each  awl  in  a  separate  handle. 

The  Marking-aivl or  Scratch-awl is  simply  an  awl  with  a  round, 
sharp  point  used  for  marking  in  carpentry,  but  for  very  close 
work  a  knife  or  chisel  is  better.  See  Marking. 

Axe. — This  is  such  a  common  tool  that  it  needs  no  descrip- 
tion, and  is,  moreover,  seldom  required  for  amateur  work. 

Back-Saw. — See  Saw. 

Beading. — A  tool  for  scraping  beading,  reeds,  and  the  like, 
can  be  made  by  filing  the  reverse  of  the  shape  required  on  the 


FIG.  465.  FIG.  466. 

edge  of  a  piece  of  saw-blade  steel,  taken  from  a  broken  saw  or 
scraper,  and  inserting  this  blade  in  a  kerf  sawed  in  the  end  of  a 
piece  of  wood  (Fig.  465).  To  change  the  position  of  the  blade, 


346          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


one  or  both  of  the  screws  can  be  loosened  and  then  tightened 
after  the  blade  has  been  adjusted.  This  tool  is  pushed  forward 
with  both  hands,  much  like  a  scraper,  the  shoulder  of  the  block 
bearing  against  the  edge  of  the  board  as  in  using  the  gauge  (Fig. 
466).  Tools  for  this  purpose  can  be  bought. 

It  usually  produces  the  best  effect  not  to  carry  this  beading  to 
the  extreme  ends  of  an  edge,  but  to  stop  a  short  distance  from 
the  ends  and  with  a  chisel  cut  the  beads  to  a  square  and  abrupt 
end  (Fig.  305).  See  Plane. 

Bending  Wood. — To  bend  a  piece  (without  steaming  or  boil- 
ing) which  is  to  be  fastened  so  that  but  one  side  will  show,  make 

a  series  of  saw-cuts  of  equal 
depth  (Fig.  467)  across  the 
piece,  and  partly  through  it, 
on  the  back  side  (the  side 
which  will  not  show),  first 


FIG.  467. 


FIG.  468. 


running  a  gauge  line  along  the  edge  (see  Gauge] ,  that  the  cuts 
may  be  of  equal  depth.  This  will  practically,  so  far  as  bending 
is  concerned,  make  the  piece  thinner,  and  it  can  readily  be 
bent  and  fastened  in  position.  The  nearer  together  and  the 
deeper  the  cuts  are  the  more  the  piece  can  be  bent — that  is,  up 
to  the  breaking-point.  Hot  water  can  be  used  on  the  face  side. 
Such  curves  can  sometimes  be  strengthened  by  driving  wedges, 
with  glue,  into  the  saw-kerfs  after  the  piece  is  bent  to  the  desired 
curve  (Fig.  468). 

To  make  a  small  piece  of  wood  pliable,  so  that  it  will  bend  to 
any  reasonable  extent  (which,  however,  depends  much  upon  the 
kind  of  wood),  soak  it  for  some  time  in  boiling  water,  when 
it  can  usually  be  bent  into  the  desired  shape.  It  must  be  securely 


Tools  and  Operations 


347 


held  in  position  until  the  moisture  has  entirely  left  it,  or  it  will 
spring  back  to  (or  towards)  its  original  shape.  This  drying  will 
take  from  several  hours  to  several  days,  according  to  the  size  of 
the  piece  and  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere.  There  is  almost 
always  a  tendency  to  spring  back  a  little  towards  the  original 
shape,  so  it  is  well  to  bend  a  piece  a  little  more  than  you  wish  it 
to  remain,  except  where  it  is  to  be  fastened  so  that  it  cannot 
spring  back. 

Wood  which  naturally  bends  easily  (particularly  thin  pieces) 
can  often  be  made  pliable  enough  by  simply  soaking  in  cold 
water,  but  hot  water  is  usually  more  effective.  Anything  which 
you  cannot  manage  with  the  hot  water  you  can  take  to  a  mill  or 
a  ship-yard  and  have  steamed  in  a  regular  steam-chest,  which  is 
really  nothing,  in  principle,  but  a  big  wooden  or  iron  box,  with  a 
steam-pipe  running  into  it,  in  which  the  pieces  are  kept  until 
the  steam  has  made  them  pliable.  Wood  is  now  bent  for  many 
purposes  by  "  end  pressure,"  but  this  is  impracticable  for  the 
amateur. 

To  bend  the  ends  of  pieces  like  skis,  hockies,  etc.,  a  big  kettle 
or  common  wash-boiler 
full  of  boiling  water 
can  be  used.  An  ap- 
paratus for  long  sticks, 
as  ribs  for  a  canoe,  can 
be  made  with  a  piece 
of  iron  pipe  of  suitable 
size.  Plug  one  end 
tightly  and  stick  it 
firmly  in  the  ground, 

so  that  the  pipe  is  fixed 

,       •       j-         •  FIG.  469. 

in  a  slanting  direction. 

Put  water  in  the  pipe,  build  a  fire  underneath,  put  the  sticks  in 
the  pipe,  stuff  a  rag  loosely  in  the  upper  end  and  the  apparatus 
will  be  in  working  order  (Fig.  469). 

You  must  often  have  some  sort  of  form  or  mould  for  bending 


348          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


the  piece  and  for  holding  it  while  drying.  For  some  kinds  of 
bending,  where  there  is  no  occasion  to  be  accurate,  you  can  often 
bend  a  piece  around  some  corner  or  common  object,  as  a  barrel, 
log,  etc.,  and  tie  it  in  place  until  dry,  or  fasten  it  with  cleats,  but 
for  nice  work  you  should  make  a  form  or  mould.  If  you  wish  to 
bend  ribs,  for  instance,  which  should  be  accurate  in  shape,  you 
can  cut  a  piece  of  board  or  plank  to  fit  the  concave  side  of  the 
desired  curve.  Fasten  this  piece  upon  any  flat  surface,  as  an  old 

plank,  and  bore  holes    for   wooden 
pins  around  the  curve  at  such  a  dis- 


FIG.  470. 


FIG.  471. 


tance  from  the  pattern  piece  or  mould  that  the  piece  to  be  bent 
can  be  firmly  wedged  against  it,  as  shown  in  Fig.  470  ;  or 
you  can  attach  blocks  instead  of  pins — any  arrangement  by  which 
the  bent  piece  can  be  wedged  in  place.  A  strap  of  hoop  iron  or 
other  metal  or  even  a  thin  piece  of  wood  can  be  placed  outside 
of  the  stick  to  be  bent,  to  prevent  the  wood  splitting  or  splinter- 
ing on  the  outside,  as  it  is  liable  to  do  if  bent  much,  unless  of 
good  quality  and  straight  grain,  but  there  is  no  need  of  doing  this 
in  many  cases. 

Another  way  is  to  have  the  mould  or  form  in  two  parts,  as  the 
two  parts  of  a  board  or  plank  through  which  the  curve  has  been 
sawed  (Fig.  471).  The  piece  to  be  bent  is  put  between  the  two 
forms,  which  are  then  pressed  together  by  clamps,  wedges,  or  a 
lever.  This  is  a  good  way  for  short  pieces  which  cannot 
easily  be  bent,  or  which  do  not  readily  cling  to  the  required 
curve. 

Another  form  of  bending-mould  is  shown  (an  inverted  view)  in 


Tools  and  Operations 


349 


Fig.  472.     In  this  case  the  pieces  to  be  bent  are  held  in  place  by 
easily  made  clamps. 

A  simple  way  to  make  a  form  for 
bending  strips  is  to  cut  the  curve  out 
of  a  piece  of  plank,  or  boards  nailed 
together  (Fig.  473).  The  end  of  the 
strip  is  then  caught  against  the  cleat 
and  the  piece  bent  around  the  curve. 


t\\ 

%        \  X 


FIG.  472.  FIG.  473. 

If  it  tends  to  spring  off  the  curve,  you  must  contrive  some  way 
to  clamp,  wedge,  or  even  tie  it  in  place.  As  a  piece  must  be  left 
on  the  form  until  dry  and  set,  if  you  have  a  number  to  bend,  it 
may  be  better  to  make  a  form  wide  enough  to  bend  them  all  at 
once.  Take  any  boards,  or  build  a  curved  addition  on  the  end 
of  a  box,  and  contrive  a  wider  form 
on  the  same  principle  (Fig.  474.) 

For  ribs,  and  the  like,  the  stock 
should  be  got  out  so  that  the  annual 
layers  will  be  at  right  angles  to  the 
direction  of  the  nails  with  which 
the  pieces  are  to  be  fastened,  or 
parallel  with  the  curved  sides  of  the 
pieces. 


FIG.  474. 


Bevel. — This  is  similar  to  the  square,  but  with  a  movable 
blade  which  can  be  set  at  any  angle.  When  permanently  fixed 
at  an  angle  of  45°,  it  is  called  a  mitre-square.  The  bevel  is 
useful,  not  merely  to  mark  any  desired  angle,  but  to  repeat  some 


350          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


angle  already  formed,  to  which  you  apply  it,  moving  the  blade 
until  it  fits  the  angle,  when  the  tool  can  be  applied  to  another 

piece  and  the  angle  re- 
peated. The  direc- 
tions about  holding  the 
head  of  the  square 
close  to  the  edge  apply 
also  to  the  use  of  the 
bevel  (see  Square]. 

To  obtain  an  angle 
of  45°  with  the  bevel, 
place  it  against  the  in- 
side edge  of  the  large 
steel  square  (Fig.  475), 


FIG.  475. 


setting  the  blade  at  such  an  angle  that  it  will  intercept  equal 
distances  on  both  arms  of  the  square. 

On  this  same  principle,  for  other  angles,  observe  the  figures 
intercepted  by  the  blade,  as  shown  in  Fig.  476.  Note  that  for 
this  angle  the  figures  are  2  and  4,  and  you  can  get  the  angle  again 
at  any  time  by  setting 
the  bevel  at  those 
figures.  You  can  also 
set  the  bevel  by  laying 
off  the  required  angle 
with  compasses  on  a 
straight-edged  board, 
to  which  the  bevel  can 
be  applied.  The 
angle  should  be  so  laid 


out  on  the  board  that 

it   will  not   be   neces-  FlG-  476> 

sary  to  try  to  set  the  point  of  the  compasses  exactly  at  the  edge, 

which  is  of  course  impossible.     See  Bevelling. 


Bevelling. — To  bevel  the  edge  of  a  piece  with  the  chisel, 


Tools  and  Operations 


351 


draw-knife,  spoke-shave,  plane,  or  even  knife,  first  mark  parallel 
lines  to  work  to  with  a  pencil-gauge  (see  Gauge]  rather  than  a 
spur-gauge,  so  as  not  to  leave  a  scratch  to  disfigure  the  work  after 
the  bevel  or  chamfer  is  cut  (Figs.  477  and  485).  Then  pare  the 
edge  down  gradually  to  these  lines,  or  prepare  the  way  by  first 
scoring  the  wood  with  cuts  (Fig.  615),  being  sure  to  trim  off  in 
the  direction  of  the  grain  ;  but  in  bevelling  both  end  and  side, 


FIG.  477. 


FIG.  479. 


as  in  Fig.  478,  first  cut  the  end,  because  of  possible  chipping  at 
the  corner,  and  in  cutting  the  end  you  can  work  from  each  corner 
towards  the  centre.  In  paring  a  bevel  across  the  grain,  push  the 
chisel  as  shown  in  Fig.  479,  as  it  is  the  easiest  and  cleanest  way 
to  cut,  and  prevents  splintering. 

A  simple  bevel  (Figs.  477  and  478)  is  usually  best  made  with 
the  plane,  whenever  there  is  room  to  use  it.  Plane  bevels  in  end 
wood  from  both  edges  and  you  can  often  slant  the  plane  to  good 
advantage  like  the  chisel  in  Fig.  479.  See  also  Chamfering. 

Bit-Brace  or  Bit-Stock. — This  tool  requires  no  description. 
The  ratchet  brace  is  useful  for  boring  in  awkward  places  where  it 
is  difficult  to  use  a  common  bit-stock.  There  is  also  a  con- 
trivance for  extending  the  bit-brace  to  bore  in  places  which  can- 
not be  reached  by  the  common  brace  alone,  but  this  you  will 


352          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


seldom  require.  An  angular  bit-stock,  with  a  "  universal  angle  " 
adjustment,  is  useful.  By  this  the  bit  can  be  pointed  in  different 
directions,  while  the  bit-stock  is  turned  continuously  in  the  ordi- 
nary way,  thus  enabling  a  hole  to  be  conveniently  bored  in  an 
out-of-the-way  corner.  See  Boring. 

Bits. — The  auger-bit  (the  sizes  of  which  are  arranged  by  six- 
teenths of  an  inch)  so  commonly  used  with  the  bit-brace,  con- 
sists, at  the  cutting  end,  of  a  spur,  two  scoring-nibs, 
and  two  cutting-lips.  You  will  see  from  Fig.  480  that 
the  spurtf,  acting  like  a  gimlet  point  or  a  screw  (which 
it  is),  starts  the  bit  by  drawing  it  into  the  wood  so  that 
the  scoring-nibs  b  make  a  circular  cut  around  the  cir- 
cumference. As  this  cut  deepens,  the  cut- 
ting-lips c  slice  away  the  wood  to  be  removed 
in  the  form  of  shavings,  which  are  brought 
to  the  surface  as  the  boring  proceeds. 

This  bit  can  be  sharpened  with  a  file,  the 
scoring-nibs  being  sharpened  from  the  inside, 
lest  they  be  made  to  score  a  circle  too  small 
for  the  rest  of  the  bit,  while  the  cutting-lips 
are  filed  from  the  under  side. 

The  centre-bit  is  a  useful  tool,  particularly 
FIG  480       *°r  very  l*"n  stock-     The  spear-like  point  a   FlQ    ~ 

(Fig.  481),  acting  as  a  centre,  the  point  b 
cuts  a  deep  ring,  and  the  edge  c,  which  is  bent  so  as  to  form  a  flat 
chisel,  scoops  out  the  pieces  of  wood,  and  so  a  round  and  smooth 
hole  is  made.  This  bit  does  not  cut  very  well  with  the  grain. 
It  can  be  sharpened  with  a  small  oil-stone.  It  is  well  to  bore  a 
trial  hole  with  this  bit  in  a  piece  of  waste  wood  when  exactness 
is  required,  because  the  spur  is  not  exactly  in  the  centre,  so 
that  the  hole  cut  is  a  trifle  wider  than  the  diameter  of  the  bit. 

The  expansion-bit  has  an  adjustable  contrivance  that  enables  it  to 
bore  holes  of  various  sizes,  but  such  tools  are  hardly  necessary  for 
beginners,  though  very  convenient  and  often  used  by  carpenters. 


Tools  and  Operations 


353 


The  gimlet-bit  is  a  common  form,  but  is  easily  dulled  and  bent 
and  is  likely  to  split  delicate  work.  The  quill-bit  is  excellent, 
except  for  end  grain.  Shell-bit,  gouge-bit,  pod-bit,  spoon-bit, 
duck 's-bill-bit,  etc.,  are  names  applied  to  simple  tools  good  for 
boring  small  holes.  They  are  easily  sharpened  with  a  stone, 
work  quickly  and  leave  a  smooth  hole,  but  do  not  cut  so  well  in 
end  grain.  They  are  not  as  much  in  use  as  formerly,  the  twist- 
drill  taking  their  place  for  many  purposes. 

Reamers,  or  tapering  bits  (half-round,  square,  octagonal,  coni- 
cal), are  useful  to  enlarge  holes  and  occasionally  to  make  them 
conical.  Reamers  for  metal  are  also  useful. 

For  other  forms  of  boring  implements,  see  Awls  and  Twist- 
drill.  See  also  Boring  and  Countersink. 

Block-Plane.— See  Plane. 

Boards  or  Planks,  Laying  Exposed. — In  laying  boards  or 
planks  to  be  exposed  to  the  weather, 
place  them  (unless  they  are  from  the 
middle  of  the  tree)  so  as  to  have  the 
outer  side  exposed  — that  is,  the  side 
farthest  from  the  heart  should  be  put 
outside  or  uppermost.  If  put  the 
other  way  the  action  of  the  atmos- 
phere, water,  etc.,  will  tend  to  sep- 
arate and  loosen  the  layers  and  fibres 
(Fig.  482). 

Boring. — In  boring  with  the  bit- 
brace, after  the  bit  has  gone  a  short 
distance  into  the  wood,  stop  and, 
keeping  the  brace  in  position,  test 
carefully  from  in  front  and  from  one 

side  to  see  whether  the  bit  is  at  right  angles  to  the  surface.  Re- 
peat this  test  and  alter  the  position  of  the  brace  as  many  times 
as  may  be  necessary  until  you  are  sure  that  the  bit  is  going  through 


354          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

at  the  right  angle.  A  common  way  to  do  this  is  to  stand  squarely 
in  front  of  the  work  and  judge  by  the  eye  whether  the  bit  is  at  right 
angles  with  the  work,  and  then  to  stand  at  either  side  at  right 
angles  to  the  first  position  and  judge  of  the  angle  again.  The 
tfcrection  of  the  bit  can  be  tested  more  accurately  by  applying  the 


FIG.  483. 

square.  Few  people  can  bore  accurately  without  some  such 
test. 

Some  workmen  rest  the  chin  on  the  left  hand  on  top  of  the 
handle  of  the  brace,  to  steady  it  (Fig.  483),  and  to  increase  the 
pressure,  and  sometimes  the  shoulder  is  applied. 

To  remove  a  bit  from  the  wood,  give  the  brace  a  turn  or  two 
backward,  which  will  loosen  the  spur,  and  then  either  pull  the  bit 
straight  out,  if  it  can  be  done  easily  without  turning  the  brace, 
or,  as  you  pull  it  out,  keep  turning  the  brace  as  if  boring,  thus 


Tools  and  Operations 


355 


bringing  out  the  chips,  which,  if  you  remove  the  bit  by  turning 
the  brace  backward,  will  be  left  in  the  hole. 

In  boring  through  a  board  or  timber,  watch  to  see  when  the 
spur  of  the  bit  begins  to  come  through  on  the  other  side;  when  it 
does,  turn  the  piece  over  and  bore  in  from  that  side,  or  clamp 
a  piece  of  waste  wood  on  the  other  side  and  bore  right  through 
into  it.  Either  way  will  prevent  splintering  or  a  ragged  or 
"  burred  "  edge,  where  the  bit  leaves  the  wood. 

In  boring  a  hole  of  any  depth  with  the  grain,  /.  e.,  in  the  end 
of  a  piece  of  wood,  withdraw  the  bit,  after  it  has  entered  the 
wood  a  short  distance,  to  clear  the  chips  from  the  hole,  reinsert, 
bore,  and  withdraw  again,  and  continue  in  this  way  until  you 
reach  the  required  depth.  This  will  save  injuring  the  bit,  and 
will  make  the  boring  easier. 

In  boring  with  small  bits,  particularly  when  there  is  danger  of 
splitting,  as  with  the  gimlet-bit,  draw  out  the  bit  and  chips  once 
in  a  while. 

When  the  position  of  a  hole  must  be  exact  on  both  sides  of  the 
wood  it  is  well  to  mark  the  position  accurately  on  each  side  and 
bore  from  each  side  until  the  holes  meet. 

Frequently  holes  must  not  be  bored  through  a  piece,  but  must 
stop  at  a  certain  depth.  Suppose  you  have  to  make  a  dozen  holes 
2"  deep.  Take  a  wooden  tube  if  you 
have  one,  or  bore  a  hole  through  a 
block  of  wood  of  such  length  that 
when  pressed  against  the  jaws  of  the 
brace  two  inches  of  the  end  of  the 
bit  will  project  beyond  the  tube  or 
block  (Fig.  484).  Then  bore  until 
the  end  of  the  tube  touches  the  sur- 
face of  the  wood,  when  the  hole  will, 
of  course,  be  2"  deep.  Metal  attach- 
ments can  be  bought  for  this  purpose.  See  Awl,  Bits,  Twist-drill. 

To  cut  a  hole  larger  than  any  bit  you  have,  bore  a  series  of 
smaller  holes  just  within  the  circumference  of  the  desired  circle, 


FlG 


356          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

and  trim  to  the  line  with  the  gouge  or  finish  with  keyhole  or 
compass-saw. 

Bow- Saw. — See  Saw. 
Brad-awl. — See  Awl. 

Bruises,  To  Take  Out. — Small  bruises  in  wood  can  be 
taken  out  by  wetting  the  place  with  warm  water,  or  even  with 
cold  water,  and  rubbing  down  the  grain  with  sandpaper  if  neces- 
sary. If  that  is  not  sufficient,  a  hot  iron,  as  a  flat-iron,  held  near 
the  bruise,  the  latter  being  covered  with  wet  blotting  paper  or 
several  thicknesses  of  brown  paper,  will  often  remove  a  quite  large 
dent.  The  operation  can  be  repeated  until  it  has  no  further  effect. 

Brushes. — It  is  well  to  have  a  brush  of  some  sort  for  cleaning 
off  work,  the  bench,  etc.  A  sash  brush  is  good. 

For  most  of  your  painting,  shellacing,  etc.,  you  will  usually 
get  along  better  with  small  flat  brushes  than  with  large  round 
ones,  except  for  very  coarse  work.  Those  with  flattened  han- 
dles are  convenient.  From  one  to  two  inches  in  diameter  will 
usually  be  large  enough,  unless  for  such  work  as  painting  the 
outside  of  a  house,  when  something  larger  will  save  time.  For 
painting  small  or  narrow  surfaces,  the  brushes  used  for  "  draw- 
ing "  sashes  are  good,  and  for  drawing  lines  "  pencil  "  brushes 
will  be  required.  A  good  brush  for  glue  can  be  made  by  soak- 
ing one  end  of  a  piece  of  rattan  in  hot  water  and  then  pounding 
the  softened  part,  when  the  fibres  will  separate,  making  a  stiff 
brush. 

Bull-Nosed  Plane.— See  Plane. 

Calipers. — Calipers,  which  are  "inside"  or  "outside,"  ac- 
cording to  whether  they  are  to  find  the  diameter  of  a  hole  or  the 
outside  diameter  of  an  object,  are  very  important  in  some  work, 
as  turning,  but,  though  very  useful  at  times,  are  not  nearly  as 
important  for  the  work  of  the  beginner  as  compasses. 

Carving-Chisel. — See  Carving  Tools. 


Tools  and  Operations 


357 


Carving  Tools. — A  few  carving  tools  are  often  very  useful 
for  general  woodwork.  It  is  convenient  to  have  these  carving 
tools  fitted  in  handles  of  a  different  pattern  from  your  other  tools. 
An  octagonal  shape  is  good.  A  carving- chisel  is  very  useful 
in  working  on  odd-shaped  pieces,  because  the  cutting  edge  is 
bevelled  on  both  sides.  A  carver's  skew  chisel  will  be,  perhaps, 
more  generally  useful  for  your  work  than  one  ground  squarely 
across.  A  parting-tool,  sometimes  called  a  "  V  tool,"  is  occasion- 
ally convenient,  though  hardly  a  necessity  for  most  plain  work. 
A  small  veining-tool  (like  a  very  small  gouge)  is  often  useful. 

Centre- Bit.— See  Bits. 

Chalk-Line. — See  Marking. 

Chamfering. — A  chamfer  is  the  surface  formed  by  cutting 
away  the  angle  made  by  two  faces  of  a  piece  of  wood. 

In  cutting  the  ends  of  a  stop-chamfer  (Fig.  485),  take  care  not 
to  cut  quite  down  to  the  line  at  first,  as  you  will  be  very  apt  to 
cut  a  little  too  deep  and  leave  a  tool  mark  which  cannot  be 
removed.  In  the  case  of  long  stop- chamfers,  use  the  plane 
whenever  you  can,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  used 
without  hitting  the 
wood  at  the  ends.  The 
draw-knife  can  often 
be  used  to  remove  the 
wood,  being  followed 
by  the  plane.  The 
plane  can  be  used 
slantingly,  so  as  to  cut 


FIG.  485. 


nearer  the  ends,  and  a  bull-nosed  plane  will  cut  nearer  still,  but 
the  extreme  ends  will  have  to  be  trimmed  to  shape  with  the  chisel 
or  other  tool.  See  also  Bevelling  andParing. 

Chisel. — ^^firmer-chisel  is  meant  for  light  hand-work,  for 
paring  off  wood  and  trimming  to  shape,  and  can  be  used  for  light 
mortising,  though  the  mortise-chisel  is  intended  for  that  purpose. 


358  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


It  is  often  an  advantage  to  have  the  long  edges  of  such  a  chisel 
bevelled  on  the  same  side  as  the  cutting  basil,  as  it  can  be  used 
more  conveniently  in  some  places.  Taking  off  the  corner  of  the 
basil  when  grinding,  often  answers  the  purpose. 

The  framing-chisel  is  stouter  than  the  firmer,  has  a  stronger 

handle  to  stand  heavy  blows 
of  the  mallet,  and  is  meant, 
as  the  name  indicates,  for 
framing,  mortising,  and  other 
heavy  work.1  See  Mortising. 
The  straight-bent  chisel  is 
shaped  as  shown  in  Fig.  487, 
and  is  very  useful  for  cleaning 


FIG.  486.  FIG.  487. 

out  corners,  grooves,  and  other  places  where  the  common  firmer- 
chisel  cannot  be  used  to  advantage. 

A  skew-chisel  is  simply  ground  slanting,  instead  of  squarely 
across,  and  is  useful  for  corners  and  odd  work.  See  Carving 
Tools. 

There  are  other  forms,  seldom  needed  by  the  amateur,  as  the 
corner-chisel,  which  is  used  for  cutting  or  paring  angles  and 
corners. 

Those  chisels  and  gouges  which  have  the  handles  fitted  into 
sockets  at  the  upper  end  of  the  iron,  instead  of  the  iron  being 
stuck  into  the  handle,  and  with  ferrules  at  the  upper  end  where 
they  are  struck  by  the  mallet  are,  of  course,  the  strongest  for 
heavy  work,  although  the  lighter  handles  are  just  as  good  for 
light  work. 

Do  not  let  your  left  hand  get  in  front  of  the  edge  of  the  chisel 

1  Mortise-chisels  with  great  thickness  of  blade  (Fig.  486)  are  not  likely  to 
break,  and  the  width  of  the  sides  bearing  against  the  sides  of  the  mortise  tends 
to  make  the  cutting  more  accurate, 


Tools  and  Operations 


359 


while  working,  for  the  tool  may  slip  and  give  you  a  bad  cut,  and 
in  most  cases  the  left  hand  should  be  kept  on  the  lower  part  of 
the  chisel  to  help  control  it,  which  is  not  easily  done  with  one 
hand.  In  some  cases,  as  in  paring  the  edge  of  a  piece  directly 
downward  towards  the  bench,  it  may  be  proper  to  hold  the  work 
with  the  left  hand  and  use  the  chisel  with  the  right;  but  as  a 
rule,  particularly  for  beginners,  first  see  that  the  work  is  securely 
fastened  or  held  from  slipping  by  vise,  clamp,  or  other  expedient, 
and  then  keep  the  left  hand  on  the  chisel,  which  will  steady  and 
guide  the  tool,  and,  incidentally,  prevent  the  hand  from  being 
cut.  See  Paring  and  Sharpening. 

Circular-plane. — See  Plane. 

Clamps. — Long  clamps  (cabinet-clamps),  shown  in  the  ac- 
companying illustrations,  are  extremely  useful  in  making  glued 
joints  and  in  various  clamping  operations.  Many,  of  different 
lengths,  are  to  be  found  in  wood-working  shops.  Although  much 
work  can  be  accomplished  without  them,  if  you  can  afford  a  pair 
or  more  of  medium 
length,  or  longer,  they 
will  be  very  useful. 
Wooden  clamps  will 
answer  every  purpose, 
although  steel  ones  are 
better,  but  more  ex- 
pensive. 

To  clamp  two  o  r 
more  flat  pieces  to- 
gether, as  in  making  a 
"  glue-joint,"  or  in 
clamping  framework, 
as  a  door  or  picture- 
frame,  lay  the  work  across  the  horses,  which  should  be  so  placed 
that  their  tops  will  be  as  nearly  level,  or  in  the  same  plane,  as 
possible,  and  apply  the  clamps  as  shown  in  Fig.  488,  always 


FIG. 


360         Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

putting  pieces  of  waste  wood  between  the  edges  of  the  work  and 
the  clamps.  Place  the  clamps  so  that  either  the  flat  side  of  the  bar 
or  the  corner,  as  shown,  will  lie  against  the  surface  of  the  work, 
thus  keeping  it  from  bending  towards  the  bar  when  the  screw  is 
tightened.  The  number  of  clamps  to  be  used  must  depend  on 
the  size  of  the  work,  but  there  is  not  usually  much  danger  of  an 
amateur's  work  being  clamped  too  securely.1 

If  you  have  to  glue  a  flexible  strip,  put  a  stiff  piece  outside  be- 
tween it  and  the  clamp  to  distribute  the  pressure. 

You  will  often  find  by  sighting  across  the  surface  of  the  work 
as  you  tighten  the  clamps,  particularly  in  the  case  of  door-frames, 
picture-frames,  and  the  like,  that  the  surface  is  winding.  When 
this  happens,  move  one  or  more  corners  of  the  work  up  or  down, 
as  the  case  may  be,  in  the  clamps,  and  thus  take  out  the  winding. 
A  little  experimenting  will  show  how  to  do  this.  In  the  case  of 
framed  work,  such  as  doors  or  picture- frames,  test  the  angles  with 

1  You  may  be  told  that  perfect  joints  do  not  require  much  clamping,  but  a 
perfect  joint  is  impossible,  and  as  a  practical  matter,  only  the  skilled  workman 
or  the  most  accurate  machinery  can  make  even  a  good  joint  of  much  length,  so 
great  is  the  difficulty  of  avoiding  little  inaccuracies.  Besides  this,  there  is 
always  the  liability  to  more  or  less  springing  or  change  of  shape  on  the  part  of 
the  pieces.  The  joint  which  was  good  when  you  stopped  planing  may  not  be 
as  good  by  the  time  the  glue  has  set,  particularly  if  the  gluing  does  not  imme- 
diately follow  the  jointing.  In  addition  to  this,  the  pressure  from  clamping  at 
only  one  or  two  points,  or  at  points  too  far  apart,  may  force  the  joint  to  open 
elsewhere.  Do  not  infer  from  this  that  even  the  beginner  should  be  content 
with  a  poor  joint,  with  the  idea  that  it  can  be  squeezed  and  jammed  to  a  suffi- 
ciently good  fit  by  applying  muscle  to  the  clamps.  Of  course  this  jamming  or 
mashing  of  the  fibres  to  fit  occurs,  to  a  microscopic  degree,  in  even  the  best 
joint,  and  it  can  sometimes  be  done  to  a  perceptible  extent  with  soft  wood, 
but  to  do  this  intentionally  is  very  unworkmanlike,  and  the  greatest  care 
should  be  taken  to  make  as  good  a  joint  as  possible  before  gluing  and  applying 
the  clamps.  Do  not,  however,  flatter  yourself  that  you  can  make  so  accurate 
a  joint  that  you  can  afford  to  neglect  proper  clamping,  unless,  in  such  cases 
as  that  shown  in  Fig.  488,  you  adopt  the  old-fashioned  way  of  rubbing  the  two 
edges  together  and  then  leaving  the  rest  to  the  glue,  but  this  is  not  so  good  a 
process  for  the  beginner,  except  with  small  pieces,  such  as  corner-blocks  (see 
Corner-blocks),  See  Jointing, 


Tools  and  Operations  361 

the  square  as  soon  as  the  joints  are  brought  to  a  bearing.  If  the 
angles  are  not  right,  as  will  often  be  the  case,  move  one  end  of 
either  one  or  both  of  the  clamps  to  the  right  or  left,  as  the  case 
may  be,  and  you  can  easily  change  the  angle  until  the  square 
shows  it  to  be  right,  when  the  screws  can  be  tightened  and  the 
joints  should  close  accurately.  In  clamping  nearly  all  kinds  of 
"  case  "  work,  such  as  bookcases,  cabinets,  boxes,  and  the  like, 
these  directions  about  moving  the  clamps  until  the  angles  are 
correct  and  the  work  free  from  winding  are  applicable. 

In  such  cases  as  that  shown  in  Fig.  488,  waste  no  time  in  trying 
to  get  the  surfaces  exactly  flush  with  each  other  at  the  joint  before 
partially  tightening  the  clamps,  lest  the,  glue  become  set.  Any 
slight  alteration  can  best  then  be  made  by  tapping  with  the  ham- 
mer near  the  joint,  whenever  either  piece  needs  to  be  raised  or 
lowered,  putting  a  block  under  the  hammer  if  the  dent  will  not 
be  removed  by  planing  (see  Gluing).  The  clamps  can  then  be 
screwed  tighter. 

In  such  cases  as  gluing  the  joints  of  a  box,  put  stout  blocks  or 
cleats  over  the  joints  before  tightening  the  clamps  (Fig.  489),  to 
distribute  the  pressure.  This  applies  to  all  cases  of  clamping 


FIG.  489.  FIG.  490. 

where  the  pieces  to  be  glued  are  not  heavy  enough  to  resist  the 
change  of  shape  from  the  pressure  of  the  clamps,  and  pieces  of 
waste  wood  are  almost  always  required  in  any  case  to  prevent 
bruising  of  the  work. 

You  can  contrive  home-made  clamps  out  of  any  strong  pieces 
of  wood  of  suitable  length,  by  nailing  or  screwing  a  block  at  each 
end  (Fig.  490),  when  the  work  can  be  tightly  wedged  to  a  close 


362          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


bearing  by  driving  home  the  double  wedge  shown,  using,  if 
necessary,  one  or  more  blocks,  B,  when  you  use  the  clamp  for 
smaller  work  than  that  for  which  it  was  made.  By  keeping  such 
clamps  for  future  use,  you  will  soon  have  enough  to  answer  very 
well  until  you  can  afford  to  buy  the  regular  cabinet-clamps. 

On  the  same  principle,  a  simple  clamp,  derived  from  the  Orient, 
can  be  made  by  boring  a  series  of  holes  in  two  stout  strips — just 
as  the  holes  are  bored  in  the  sides  of  a  ladder,  but  nearer  to- 
gether. The  work  to  be  glued  is  laid  on  one  of  these  strips  in  the 
same  way  as  shown  in  Fig.  490.  The  other  strip  is  then  placed 
directly  above  and  stout  pins  put  through  corresponding  holes 
outside  of  the  work,  which  can  then  be  wedged  against  the  pins 
in  the  way  just  shown. 

Another  way,  which  can  be  applied  to  many  cases,  is  to  put  a 
stout  cord,  doubled,  around  the  work,  and  inserting  a  stick  be- 
tween the  tfro  parts  of  the  string,  turn  it 
around  until,  trie  doubled  cord  thus  be- 
coming  shortened,  the 
parts  of  the  work  are 
drawn  together.  This  can 
only  be  done  where  there 
is  room  to  swing  the  stick 
around,  as,  for  example, 
to  tighten  the  rounds  of  a 
chair  by  drawing  the  legs 
together  (Fig.  491). 

You  can  often  apply  pres- 
sure, when  no  more  con- 
venient means  are  at  hand, 
by  making  use  of  the  elas- 


FIG.  491. 


FIG.  492. 


ticity  of  a  board  or  pole.  Suppose,  for  example,  you  need  to 
press  two  blocks  tightly  together,  as  shown  in  Fig.  492.  Place 
them  on  the  bench  or  floor  and  spring  in  a  board  or  pole  between 
the  top  of  the  upper  block  and  a  beam  of  the  floor  above,  as 
shown,  Of  course  this  board  must  be  a  little  longer  than  merely 


Tools  and  Operations 


363 


to  reach  between  the  two  points,  as  it  must  be  sprung  into  place 
bent,  when  in  the  effort  to  straighten  itself  out  again  it  will  cause 
pressure  on  the  blocks.  Pieces  should  be  placed  outside  the 
blocks  when  scarring  of  the  surface  is  to  be  avoided.  The  pres- 
sure can  be  applied  in  any  direction,  always  supposing  that  you 
have  something  firm  to  press  against. 

Pressure  can  often  be  obtained  by  a  lever,  and  many  applica- 
tions of  the  wedge  will  suggest  themselves  in  your  work.  Even 
if  you  have  a  shopful  of  clamps  and  hand-screws  and  vises,  these 
applications  of  the  simple  mechanical  powers  often  come  into 
play  (see  Fig.  390).  See  also  page  71. 

Adjustable  wood-carver's  clamps  can  be  bought  for  holding 
pieces  in  position  on  the  bench,  and  are  useful,  but  by  no  means 
necessary,  as  common  clamps,  or  various  devices,  can  be  used. 

The  small  iron  clamps  which  can  be  used  in  place  of  hand- 
screws  are  very  useful. 

For  other  suggestions  about  clamping,  see  Hand-screws. 

Cleating. — A  simple  way  to  join  two  or  more  pieces  of  board 
or  plank  to  make  a  wider  piece  is 
to  cleat  them.  If  short,  they  can 
be  cleated  across  the  ends.  This 
can  also  be  done  to  keep  a  single 
board  from  warping  (Fig.  493). 
Such  a  cleat  should  not  be  glued 
unless  the  width  is  very  slight,  on 
account  of  the  expansion  and  con- 
traction across  the  board  being  so 
much  greater  than  that  lengthways 
of  the  cleat  (see  pages  50-53). 
Screws  (which  are  best),  nails,  or 
dowels  should  be  used,  as  they  will 
give  some  play  to  the  pieces.  A 
groove  can  also  be  made  in  the  cleat,  into  which  a  tongue  on  the 
end  of  the  board  is  fitted.  Grooves  can  be  cut  in  both  cleat  and 


FIG.  493. 


FIG.  494. 


364          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

board  and  a  tongue  or  spline  inserted  (Fig.  494).  These  are 
operations  best  done  by  machinery.  This  end-cleating  does 
very  well  on  small  work  and  where  the  tendency  to  warp  is  not 
too  great.  For  heavier  work,  as  doors,  cleats  on  the  side  are 
better,  but  they  are  sometimes  in  the  way,  and  not  always  desir- 
able on  the  ground  of  looks.  This  is  a  strong  way.  Side  cleats 
should  be  fastened  with  screws  (see  Screws)  or  clinched  nails  (see 
Nailing),  but  not  with  glue,  for  the  same  reason  as  in  the  case  of 
end  cleats.  If  the  cleat  is  wide  enough,  do  not  put  the  screws  in 
a  straight  line,  but  "alternate"  them  (Fig.  368).  See  Jointing 
and  Doors  and  Panels. 

Clinching-Nails. — See  Nailing. 

Compasses. — Wing  compasses,  or  those  with  arc  and  set- 
screw,  are  easy  to  adjust  accurately  and  will  not  slip,  but,  what- 
ever kind  you  get,  be  sure  that  the  points  stay  where  you  put 
them  and  do  not  spring  away  or  wobble  around. 

The  chief  uses  of  this  tool  are  to  strike  circles,  to  lay  off  angles 
and  arcs,  to  take  off  measurements  from  a  rule  or  some  object, 
to  lay  off  measurements,  and  to  "  scribe  "  in  places  where  a  gauge 
can  not  be  used  (see  Scribing).  In  using  compasses,  particularly 
those  which  are  not  set  by  a  screw,  hold  them  and  swing  them 
around  by  the  top  at  the  hinged  joint,  rather  than  grasp  them 
near  the  points,  which  may  cause  them  to  move  or  slip. 

Circles  or  circular  arcs  can  be  struck  roughly,  as  you  doubt- 
^  less  know,  with  a  string 

IN.        jt  and  a  nail  at  the  centre, 

^  ~^~~^~  •    •  IZJLX        the   string   being    loose 

around  the  nail.      This 
\      method  is  not  very  ac- 
»    curate,    for    obvious 
reasons,  and  is  only  suit- 
able for  rough  work.     A 

more  accurate  way  is  to  drive  two  nails  through  a  strip  of  wood  at  a 
distance  apart  just  equal  to  the  radius  of  the  required  circle,  one 


\ 


Tools  and  Operations 


365 


nail  being  driven  into  the  wood  to  act  as  the  centre,  the  other 
doing  the  marking  (Fig.  495).  Instead  of  the  marking  nail  a 
hole  can  be  bored  for  a  pencil.  You  can  use  a  stick  of  this  sort 
repeatedly  by  changing  the  position  of  the  centre  nail,  or  of  the 
marking  point.  The  same  can  be  done  with  a  brad  or  stout  pin 
and  a  pencil,  using  stiff  paper,  card-board,  or  zinc  instead  of  a 
stick.  By  such  expedients  you  can  do  a  great  deal  of  work  with- 
out buying  compasses. 

Compass-Saw. — See  Saw. 

Corner-Blocks. — These  are  merely  small  pieces  of  pine,  or 
other  wood  which  holds  glue  well,  with  two  adjacent  surfaces  at 
right  angles.  Hot  glue  is  applied 
to  them  and  they  are  rubbed  into 
interior  angles  of  cabinet-work,  to 
strengthen  and  stiffen  the  work 
(Fig.  496),  and  are  very  useful  for 
this  purpose.  They  are  got  out  in 
short  pieces,  lengthways  of  the 
grain,  and  can  be  freely  used  in 
places  where  they  will  not  show,  as 

inside  of  the  base-board  in  Fig.  304.  The  shape  can  be  varied 
according  to  the  conditions  of  the  joint.  Apply  hot  glue  plenti- 
fully, place  the  block  where  it  is  to  go,  and  rub  it  back  and  forth 
several  times,  when  it  can  be  left  for  the  glue  to  dry. 

Corner-Chisel. — See  Chisel. 

Countersink.— This  tool,  to  be  used  with  the  bit-brace,  for 
enlarging  the  outer  part  of  a  hole,  thus  forming 
I?  a  cavity  or  depression  for  receiving  the  head  of  a 

screw   (Fig.    497),    is   quite   important,    as   being 
IG.  497.         much  more  convenient  than  to  use  gouge,  chisel, 
or  knife  for  the  purpose.     See  page  205. 

The  rose  form  of  countersink  is  common  and  good.  The  Clark 
double  -  cut  countersink  (for  wood  only)  cuts  smoothly  and  is 
easily  sharpened.  A  countersink  for  metal  is  useful. 


FIG.  496. 


366          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Cracks,  To  Stop.— See  Holes,  To  Stop. 
Cross-Cut  Saw. — See  Saw. 

Cutting-Pliers. — A  pair  of  these  will  often  be  useful  in  con- 
nection with  wood-working  operations. 

Dents,  To  Take  Out.— See  Bruises. 
Dividers. — See  Compasses. 

Doors  and  Panels. — It  is  important  to  have  some  under- 
standing of  the  theory  of  framing  panels,  doors,  and  the  like. 
The  simplest  form  of  door  is,  of  course,  a  piece  of  board.  This 
will  do  for  some  cases,  but  it  is  liable  to  warp  or  wind, — if  a 
large  door,  sometimes  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  useless.  It  is 
also,  if  large,  liable  to  swell  or  shrink  so  as  to  be  either  too  loose 
or  too  tight,  and  to  break.  Cleating  can  be  resorted  to  (see 
dealing),  but  will  not  prevent  the  swelling  and  shrinking,  nor  is 
a  cleated  door  especially  ornamental.  Besides,  there  are  limits 
to  the  width  of  ordinary  boards.  Several  boards  can,  however, 
be  joined,  edge  to  edge,  and  cleated  on  one  side,  in  which  way  a 
large  door  can  be  made  (Fig.  405),  and,  if  the  boards  are  not 
fitted  too  closely  together,  there  may  be  no  trouble  caused  by  the 
swelling  and  shrinking.  Another  way  to  make  a  very  strong  door 
is  to  make  it  of  two  thicknesses,  or  layers,  one  running  up  and 
down  and  the  other  crossways,  or  diagonally,  the  two  thicknesses 
being  firmly  nailed  or  screwed  together. 

All  such  arrangements  are,  however,  suited  for  the  rougher 
class  of  work.  When  we  come  to  nicer  work  we  must  have  some- 
thing more  scientific,  that  will  swell  and  shrink  as  little  as  possible 
and  that  will  look  better.  So,  instead  of  using  a  broad  flat  surface 
with  the  boards  all  running  one  way,  we  try  to  overcome  the  faults 
of  the  flat  door  by  framing  the  pieces  together.  Suppose,  for  a 
theoretical  case,  that  you  make  a  door  like  Fig.  498.  It  will  not 
warp  or  curl  because  of  the  cleats  at  the  top  and  bottom,  but  it 
will  swell  and  shrink  in  width  because  there  is  such  a  wide  sur- 
face of  board  to  be  affected  by  the  atmosphere,  etc.,  and  it  may 


Tools  and  Operations 


36? 


become  winding.  To  lessen  these  objections  the  middle  part  of 
the  board  can  be  removed — all  but  a  strip  at  each  edge  (Fig. 
499).  It  will  not  now  swell  and  shrink  much  in  width  because 


FIG.  498. 


Fm.  499. 


FIG.  500. 


most  of  the  board  has  been  removed.  This  frame  will  hold  its 
shape  quite  well,  but  it  is  only  a  frame,  not  a  door.  How  can 
you  fill  up  this  open  frame  to  make  a  door,  so  as  to  avoid  the 
trouble  about  warping,  winding,  swelling,  and  shrinking  ?  First, 
however,  as  this  frame  is  considerably  taller  than  it  is  wide,  you 


FIG.  501. 


FIG.  502. 


FIG.  503. 


will  readily  see  that  it  will  be  a  better  arrangement  to  make  it  as 
shown  in  Fig.  500,  with  the  cross-pieces  between  the  uprights, 
according  to  the  usual  custom  in  such  cases.  Suppose,  now,  that 
you  fill  up  the  open  space  with  a  thin  board,  fastened  on  one  side 
(Fig.  501),  instead  of  the  thick  wood  which  occupied  the  space 


368          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


at  first.  The  thin  board  will  tend  to  warp  and  twist,  but,  being 
thin,  it  will  not  exert  force  enough  to  change  the  shape  of  the 
thick  frame.  That  will  prevent  the  warping  and  winding  from 
doing  much  harm.  If  the  screw-holes  in  this  thin  piece  are 
reasonably  loose,  they  will  allow  play  enough  for  the  board  to 
expand  and  contract  without  putting  any  strain  on  the  frame. 
This  arrangement  does  not,  however,  look  very  nice  on  the  side 
to  which  the  board  is  screwed,  though  it  can  be  used  in  some 
situations.  Suppose,  finally,  that  you  cut  a  groove  around  the 
inside  edge  of  the  frame  of  the  door  (Fig.  502)  into  which  this 
thin  board  can  be  fitted  loosely,  making  the  groove  deep  enough 
to  give  the  board  room  to  shrink  and  swell  in  width  without  drop- 
ping out  or  pushing  against  the  frame.  You  now  have  a  com- 
plete door  (Fig.  503),  and  the  warping,  winding,  swelling,  and 
shrinking  will  do  as  little  harm  as  possible.  That  is  all  there  is 
to  the  theory  of  framing  doors,  panels,  and  the  like. 

The  panel  should  fit  closely  into  the  groove,  but  at  the  same 
time  be  loose  enough  to  slide  in  and  out 
as  it  expands  and  contracts,  and  should 
not  be  wide  enough  to  reach  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  grooves,  but  room  be  left  for 
all  possible  change  in  width,  as  shown 
in  Fig.  504,  which  shows  sections  on  the 
line  AB.  All  this  is  important  and  has 
many  applications  to  other  things  than 
doors.  It  is  not  very  uncommon  for 
amateurs,  ignorant  of  these  simple  prin- 
ciples, to  make  a  door-frame  properly, 
but  in  fitting  the  panel  to  make  it  the 
full  width  of  the  space  from  the  bottom 
of  one  groove  to  the  bottom  of  the  op- 
posite, and  also  to  make  it  such  a  snug 
FIG.  504.  £t  jn  the  groove  as  to  ke  stuck  tight,  all 

with  the  idea  of  making  such  a  good  fit  as  to  prevent  any  of  the 
gaping  cracks  so  often  seen,  but  really  taking  the  very  course  to 


PANEL. 
RIGHT. 


Tools  and  Operations  369 

ruin  the  work.  So  important  is  it  that  the  panel  should  have 
play,  that  it  is  quite  common  in  nice  work  to  rub  wax  or  tallow 
around  the  edge  of  the  panel,  lest  some  of  the  glue  from  the 
joints  of  the  frame  should  cause  it  to  stick  when  the  frame  is 
glued  up.  If  the  panel  is  badly  fitted  or  stuck,  it  may  buckle 
or  split,  or  the  frame  be  split  or  forced  apart  at  the  joints. 

There  are  many  more  elaborate  ways  of  arranging  the  details 
of  door-framing  and  panelling  (too  numerous  to  be  described 
here,  as  they  will  not  often  be  required  by  the  beginner);  but  if 
you  understand  the  general  principles  upon  which  this  simple 
door  is  put  together,  you  will  understand  the  principles  upon 
which  all  panelling  is  based;  and,  though  you  may  never  do 
much  of  it,  it  is  quite  important  to  have  a  clear  understanding 
of  the  theory,  which  is  really  quite  simple — for  it  has  many 
applications  which  may  save  you  much  trouble,  labour,  and 
expense. 

The  best  way  to  fasten  the  frame  of  a  door  together  is  by  mor- 
tise and  tenon  (see  Mortising].  This  method  is  almost  invariably 
adopted  for  house  doors.  Dowelling  is  often  used  for  smaller 
doors,  but  is  inferior  to  the  mortise  and  tenon. 

A  common  way  nowadays  to  make  light  doors,  and  such  as  are 
not  to  be  subjected  to  much  strain,  is  to  run  the  grooves  in  the 
stiles  through  to  the  ends  and  cut  tongues  or  short  tenons  on  the 
ends  of  the  rails  to  fit  these  grooves,  as  shown  in  Figs.  508  and 
509.  The  whole  door,  panel  and  all,  can  thus  be  quickly  got  out 
and  fitted  accurately  with  a  circular  saw  at  any  wood-working  mill, 
without  any  hand-work  being  required,  except  the  smoothing  of 
the  pieces  and  the  putting  together.  In  this  way  you  can  have 
a  door  made  for  a  small  sum,  smoothing  and  putting  it  together 
yourself.  Such  a  door  is  not  fitted,  however,  to  stand  great 
strain.  A  house  door  made  in  that  way  would  last  but  a  short 
time.  Any  heavy  door,  or  one  to  have  much  strain,  or  liable  to 
be  slammed,  should  be  framed  with  mortise  and  tenon.  You 
can  have  grooving  for  a  door-frame  done  at  the  mill  very  cheaply 
and  do  the  mortising  yourself,  or  you  can  have  the  mortising  done 


37°          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


by  machine  at  slight  expense.     Sometimes  the  grooving  and  mor- 
tising are  combined, — an  excellent  way  (Fig.  592). 

In  using  any  of  these  methods  mark  distinctly  one  side  of  each 
piece  for  the  "  face  "  and  lay  out  all  the  work  from  that  side 
only.  If  the  job  is  to  be  taken  to  a  mill,  see  that  the  work  is  all 
gauged  from  the  face  side. 

In  laying  out  such  work  never  cut  off 
the  stiles  (Fig.  505)  to  length  at  first. 
Leave  them  too  long  (Fig.  507).  The  pro- 
jecting ends  will  be  useful  when  you  knock 
the  frame  apart  for  gluing,  after  first  put- 
ting it  together  to  see  if  everything  fits. 
Besides,  the 
extra  length 
makes  the 

ends  stronger 
FIG.  505.  for  the  mor,  FlG  5o6. 

tising  and  less  likely  to  split  out.     The  rails  in  door-framing  and 

panelling  are  usually  wider  than  the  stiles. 

In  laying  out  a  door  or  panelled  frame,  place  the  stiles  together, 

with  the  inside  edges  uppermost,  and  square  lines  across  the 

edges  to  mark  the  positions  for  the  rails  (Fig.  506).  Carry  these 
lines  across  the  faces  of  the  stiles,  and  mark 
the  rails  and  stiles  with  some  symbols  to  in- 
dicate the  way  they  are  to  be  fitted  together 
(Fig.  507). 

The  whole  should  be  put  together  once 
to  see  that  everything  is  right  before  be- 
ginning to  glue.  Before  putting  together 
permanently,  the  panel  and  the  inside  edges 
of  the  frame  (the  edges  which  come  next 
the  panel)  must  first  be  planed  and 

smoothed,  as  this  cannot  well  be  done  after- 
FIG.  507. 

wards. 

Then  fit  the  panel  in  the  grooves  of  the  rails  (Fig.  508),  glue 


Tools  and  Operations 


the  tenons  of  one  end  of  the  rails  and  the  grooves  or  mortises  of 
the  corresponding  stile  (see  Gluing),  taking  care  not  to  put  any 
glue  where  it  may  cause  the  panel  to  stick,  and  fit  these  parts 
into  place  (Fig.  509).     Drive  the  rails  home. 
Then  glue  and  fit  the  other  side  of  the  frame 
in  the  same  way  (Fig.  510)  —  all  being  done  as 
quickly  as   pos- 
sible.       Finally 
clamp  the  frame 
securely     (see 
Clamps).      The 
t  on  gu  ed   and 
grooved    joint 
FIG.  508.  represented     i  n 

the  accompanying  illustrations  is  not  as  good  as  a  mortise  and 
tenon,  as  already  stated,  but  is  shown  as  a  simple  way  for  making 
a  light  door.  Leave  the  work  to  dry,  and  when  dry  remove  the 
clamps.  Saw  off  the  ends  of  the  stiles,  and  dress  off  the  surface 
of  the  frame  with  the  plane  (see  Plane),  after  which  you  can 
smooth  with  scraper  (see  Scraper)  and  sandpaper  (see  Sand- 
paper), and  the  door  or  panel  will  be  done.  When  there  is  ob- 
jection to  the  end  of  a  tenon  showing  on  the  outside  edge  of  the 

stile,  and  a  blind  mortise  is  not  de- 
sired (see  Mortising),  the  end  of  the 
tenon  can  be  cut  a  little  short  and 
the  mortise-hole  on  the 
edge  plugged  with  a  piece 
of  wood,  with  the  grain 
running  the  same  way  as 
that  of  the  stile.  Fit  the 
piece  wjth  a  very  trifling  FlGl  5U- 
bevel  on  the  edges,  glue,  drive  tightly  into  place,  and  when  dry 
smooth  off  (Fig.  511). 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  work  out  the  grooving  or  grooved 
and  tongued  joints  by  hand  in  these  days  when  it  can  be  so 


FlG- 


372          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

cheaply  done  by  machinery.  If  obliged  to  do  it  by  hand,  you 
should  have  the  proper  plane  for  the  purpose,  as  it  will  be  very 
difficult  and  slow  work  otherwise. 

A  panel  is  sometimes  made  flush  with  either  side  of  the  frame, 
by  having  a  deep  rabbet  on  that  side,  as  in  the  case  of  a  desk  lid, 
for  instance,  but  this  is  a  form  which  can  well  be  avoided  by  the 
beginner. 

Dovetailing. — This  is  an  operation  requiring  considerable 
skill  to  do  well  and,  with  the  exception  of  an  occasional  single 
dovetail,  is  not  frequently  required  in  the  work  of  the  beginner. 
It  is,  however,  a  valuable,  workmanlike  accomplishment  and  a 
thoroughly  scientific  method,  of  which  the  amateur  should  have 
some  understanding,  even  if  he  should  never  use  it. 

The  common  form,  such  as  is  used  in  joining  the  sides  of  a  box 
(Fig.  512),  can  be  done  as  follows:  Mark  the  lines  ab  (Fig.  513) 
completely  around  each  piece,  at  a  distance  from  the  end  equal  to 
the  thickness  of  the  stock.  Lay  off  the  lines  cd  on  the  end  of  the 


FIG.  512. 


FIG.  513. 


piece  A.  Lay  off  the  oblique  lines  ec  on  both  sides  of  the  piece. 
With  the  back-saw  cut  by  these  oblique  lines  (ec]  to  the  lines  ab. 
Fasten  the  piece  in  the  vise,  end  upward,  for  the  sawing.  With 
the  chisel,  cut  out  the  parts  to  be  removed  (marked  »i),  as  in  cut- 
ting a  mortise  (see  Mortising),  undercutting  very  slightly  at  the 
end  (Fig.  302).  When  this  cutting  has  been  cleanly  done,  lay 


Tools  and  Operations 


FIG.  514. 


the  piece  A  on  the  end  of  the  piece  B  in  the  way  it  is  finally  to 
go,  so  that  the  pins  just  cut  will  rest  exactly  in  position  across 
the  end  of  the  piece  B.  Mark  around  the  pins,  forming  the 
oblique  lines  fg,  from  the  ends  of 
which  square  the  lines  gh  on  both 
sides  of  the  piece.  Remove  the 
wood  as  before,  taking  care  not  to 
cut  on  the  wrong  sides  of  the  lines 
which  mark  the  pins,  or  the  dovetail- 
ing may  come  together  too  loosely. 
When  exactly  fitted,  apply  glue,  fit 
together,  and  when  dry  smooth  off 
with  plane,  scraper,  and  sandpaper, 
as  may  be  required. 

Lap  or  drawer  dovetailing  (Fig.  514)  is  similar  to  the  preced- 
ing form,  but  the  ends  of  the  pins  or  dovetails  on  the  piece  form- 
ing the  side  of  the  drawer  are  shortened,  and  the  recesses  in  the 
front  piece  which  are  to  receive  them  are  not  cut  through.  First 
the  side  piece  A  (Fig.  515)  is  marked  and  cut  on  the  principle 

just  shown,  the  pins 
being  shorter;  then 
the  piece  B  is  marked 
and  cut  to  fit. 

Practised  workmen 
in  dovetailing  usually 
(unless  symmetry  of 
the  pins  is  required) 
determine  the  bevels 
for  the  pins  of  the  first 


piece  by  eye,  but  the 
beginner   would    best 


1 

v 

FIG.  515. 
not  attempt  to  lay  off  angles  or  saw  by  eye. 

Mitre  dovetailing  (blind  or  secret  dovetailing)  is  used  in  cases 
where  it  is  desired  to  conceal  the  dovetails,  the  result  looking  like 
an  ordinary  mitred  joint,  but  this  is  difficult  work  for  the  beginner. 


374          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Dovetail  Saw.— See  Saw  (Sack-Saw). 

Dowelling. — Dowels  are  merely  round  sticks  of  different 
diameters  and  usually  of  hard  wood.  They  can  be  bought  ready 
made  and  can  be  used  instead  of  nails  or  screws,  or  instead  of 
mortising,  dovetailing,  etc.  They  can  be  used  simply  as  pins  or 
in  many  cases  can  be  split  and  wedged,  though  the  holes  must  be 
tapered  with  a  gouge  if  wedges  of  much 
thickness  are  to  be  used  (Fig.  516). 

A  common  use  of  dowels  is  to  fasten  the 
frames  of  tables,  chairs,  bedsteads,  and  vari- 
ous domestic  articles. 

The  use  of  dowels  for  such  purposes  is  not 
FIG.  516.  to  be  recommended,  however,   although  very 

common  in  cheap  work  and  in  much  work 
which  is  not  cheap  in  price.  The  mortise  and  tenon  is 
usually  much  to  be  preferred.  Dowelling,  to  be  really  good,  has 
to  be  skilfully  done,  while  it  is  a  very  common  way  to  stick  the 
work  together  in  any  manner  that  will  look  right  on  the  outside. 
A  dowelled  joint  is  not,  as  a  rule,  as  scientific  a  form  of  con- 
struction as  a  well-planned  mortise  and  tenon, — a  statement 
which  you  can  easily  prove  for  yourself  by  comparing  some 
article  of  your  grandmother's  or  great-grandmother's  time,  and 
which  is  still  strong,  with  some  modern  dowelled  chair,  which  is 
in  so  many  cases  all  to  pieces  and  thrown  on  the  woodpile  after 
a  short  term  of  service.  The  gaping  joints  and  dropping  apart 
of  modern  dowelled  work  can  be  seen  on  every  hand.  There 
are  some  cases,  however,  where  the  use  of  dowels  is  scientific 
and  just  what  is  required.  For  example,  split  dowels,  wedged 
dovetail  fashion  like  wedged  tenons,  are  often  very  useful  (see 
Mortising). 

To  find  the  centres  for  boring,  so  that  the  holes  bored  in  the 
two  pieces  shall  be  in  line,  you  can  cut  off  the  heads  of  some 
small  wire  brads  so  that  they  will  be  pointed  at  both  ends.  Stick 
the  brads  into  one  piece  where  the  centres  of  the  holes  should 


Tools  and  Operations 


375 


be  Then  press  this  piece  against  the  other  in  the  position  it  is 
to  take  when  the  work  is  done  and  the  brads  will  of  course  prick 
holes  in  the  second  piece  exactly  corresponding  to  those  in  the 
first  piece  (Fig.  5 17).  Instead  of  brads, 
small  shot  can  be  used  in  a  similar  man- 
ner. It  is  well  to  take  a  round-pointed 
awl,  or  some  such  tool,  and  carefully 
prick  a  small  hole  with  it  at  each  of  the 
points  marked.  This  is  to  start  the 
spur  of  the  bit  exactly  at  the  point,  as 
the  spur  sometimes  has  a  way  of  work- 
ing off  to  one  side,  so  that  the  hole  may 
not  be  in  exactly  the  right  place.  The 
hardest  part,  however,  is  to  bore  the 
holes  exactly  at  right  angles  to  the  sur- 
face, as  a  slight  deviation  in  either  or 
both  may  make  a  bad  angle  where  the 
two  holes  meet.  You  can  sometimes 
lay  the  pieces  flat  on  the  bench  and  ar- 
range boards  or  blocks  so  as  to  guide  the 
bit  straight.  The  dowels  must  be  thoroughly  dry.  It  is  better 
to  have  them  a  trifle  too  large,  rather  than  too  small,  for  you  can 
easily  trim  them  down  to  a  snug  fit.  Scratch  them  lengthways 
with  the  toothed-plane,  or  with  the  edge  of  a  file.  Countersink 

a  little  hollow  around 
the  opening  of  each 
hole  (see  Counter- 
sink}, to  catch  the  sur- 
plus glue  which  would 
otherwise  form  a  rim 
around  the  dowel 
(Fig.  517).  Before 


FIG.  517. 


FIG.  518. 


gluing  you  should  fit  the  work  together  once,  as  it  is  very  awkward 
to  make  changes  after  the  gluing  is  begun.  When  the  parts  fit  ac- 
curately, take  the  joint  apart  for  gluing.  Brush  a  little  glue  around 


376          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

the  inside  of  one  of  the  holes,  dip  one  end  of  a  dowel  in  the  glue 
and  drive  into  place.  Wipe  off  the  superfluous  glue  and  repeat 
the  process  with  each  of  the  dowels  in  that  half  of  the  joint. 
Leave  this  to  dry  a  day,  or  more  if  you  can.  Then  clean  any 
hardened  glue  from  the  dowels  and  glue  them,  as  before,  into 
the  other  piece,  this  time  putting  glue  on  the  flat  surfaces  which 
are  to  come  together.  The  whole  should  be  firmly  clamped  and 
left  to  dry  (see  Gluing  and  Clamps).  Dowels  are  sometimes  used 
in  joining  the  edges  of  pieces,  as  in  Fig.  518,  and  in  many  other 
joints  too  numerous  to  be  specified  (see  Joints  and  pointing). 

Dowelling  looks  very  easy,  but  it  is  usually  hard  for  the  be- 
ginner to  bore  the  holes  straight  and  to  make  the  pieces  fit 
accurately. 

Dowel-Plate. — A  steel  plate  with  various  holes  of  such  sizes 
that  pins  made  by  driving  blocks  of  wood  through  them  will 
drive  snugly  into  the  holes  made  by  the  corresponding  bits.  This 
is  useful  in  fitting  dowels. 

Drawers. — The  making  of  well-fitting  and  smoothly  running 
drawers  is  an  operation  requiring  much  skill — more  skill  than 
can  be  expected  of  the  beginner,  or,  in  fact,  than  is  attained  by 
the  average  workman.  The  beginner  should,  however,  have  some 
understanding  of  the  work,  even  if  he  does  not  attain  a  high  de- 
gree of  skill  in  its  execution. 

Bear  in  mind  that  it  is  much  easier  to  make  a  drawer  which  is 
narrow  and  long  (from  front  to  back)  run  smoothly  than  one 
which  is  wide  across  the  front,  but  shallow  from  front  to  back. 

The  more  accurately  the  case  which  holds  the  drawers  is  made, 
the  easier  it  is  to  make  smoothly  running  drawers.  In  good  work 
having  more  than  one  drawer,  a  horizontal  frame  is  fitted  beneath 
each  drawer  for  it  to  run  on.  These  frames,  as  well  as  the  whole 
case,  should  be  free  from  winding,  and  it  is  also  important  that 
the  stock  for  the  drawers  should  be  true.  The  front  and  sides 
of  a  drawer  should  be  got  out  to  fit  very  snugly  in  their  places. 
The  piece  for  the  back  is  narrower  than  the  front  piece,  to  allow 


Tools  and  Operations 


377 


for  the  bottom  (Fig.  521),  and  is  often  cut  off  at  the  top  also. 

The  front,  sides,  and  back  can  be  put  together  with  any  suitable 

form  of  joint.     Dovetailing  is  by  far  the  best  way,  but  it  is  diffi- 

c  u  1 1  for   the    beginner 

(see  Dovetailing).     The 

joints  shown  in  Fig.  519 

can  very  well  be  used  for 

ordinary  work.      These 

can  be  quickly  made  by 

machinery    (see 

Joints].   See  also  Glu- 
ing and  Clamps. 

A   groove    for    the 

bottom  must  be  cut  on 

the  inside  of  the  front 

and  of  the   sides   (Fig. 

520).      The   insides    of 

the  pieces  must  be 

smoothed  before  putting 

the  drawer  together.  When  these  parts  are  fitted,  slip  the  bot- 
tom (previously  fi  1 1  e  d  ) 
into  place.  It  should  be  got 
out  with  the  grain  running 
across  the  drawer,  or  parallel 
with  the  front  (Fig.  521), 
and  should  be  glued  at  the 
front  edge  only,  the  rest  be- 
ing free  to  swell  and  shrink, 
lli^ll^JlPI  which  saves  the  drawer  from 
injury. 

Be  sure  that  the  drawer  is 
rectangular  (putting  in  the 
FlG-  52i.  bottom  will  assist  in  this)  and 

free    from   winding.      When    put    together   and   dry,    carefully 

smooth  the  front  and  the   sides.     A   little   trimming   with   the 


378          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


plane  may  be  required  to  make  the  drawer  run  freely,  but  care 
should  be  taken  not  to  plane  away  too  much.  A  drawer  which 
is  a  trifle  larger  at  the  back  than  at  the  front  will  run  better  than 
if  larger  in  front,  as  it  will  be  less  likely  to  bind  or  catch.  Small 
slides,  between  which  the  drawer  runs,  are  fastened  at  each  side 
outside  the  drawer,  at  the  bottom,  and  must  be  adjusted  carefully. 

Thin  blocks  or  "  stops  "  can  be  fastened  on  the  cross-frame  so 
that  the  inside  of  the  drawer  front  will  strike  against  them  when 
the  drawer  has  been  pushed  in  as  far  as  it  should  go,  or  the 
drawer  can  be  stopped  at  the  back. 

A  simple  way  to  attach  a  drawer  under  a  shelf,  bench,  or  table 
is  shown  in  Fig.  143.  The  contrivance  shown  in  Figs.  141  and 
142  can  sometimes  be  used  in  place  of  small  drawers. 

Bayberry  tallow  is  excellent  to  rub  on  the  sides  of  drawers. 

Draw-Knife  or  Draw-Shave. — The  draw-knife  or  draw- 
shave  is  very  useful  for  slicing  off  large  pieces  and  for  trimming 


FIG.  522. 


FIG.  523. 


wood  into  odd  shapes.  It  can  be  obtained  with  folding  handles, 
adjustable  at  different  angles,  for  use  in  places  which  can  not  be 
reached  by  the  blade  of  the  old-fashioned  draw-knife;  but  the 
latter  is  good  enough  for  all  ordinary  purposes,  Choose  a 


Tools  and  Operations  379 

medium-sized  or  large  one.  It  is  in  principle  simply  a  knife  or 
very  wide  and  short-bladed  chisel  with  a  handle  at  each  end,  and 
can  be  used  with  the  flat  side  or  the  bevel  against  the  wood  as 
the  character  of  the  work  may  require.  Having  but  a  short 
bearing  surface  to  guide  its  course,  it  is  very  prone  to  follow  the 
grain  and  cut  deeper  than  you  wish,  so  you  must  take  special 
pains  to  cut  with  the  grain,  stopping  and  cutting  the  other  way, 
whenever  necessary.  Attachments  can  be  bought  for  guiding 
the  draw-knife  in  chamfering  and  such  cases. 

The  draw-knife  can  often  be  best  used  with  an  oblique  stroke — 
either  drawing  it  sideways  across  the  work  at  the  same  time  that 
you  pull  it  towards  you  (Fig.  522),  or  holding  it  obliquely  across 
the  work  and  pulling  it  straight  towards  you  (Fig.  523). 

It  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  tools  if  carelessly  left  lying 
around,  and  should  be  kept  hung  up  out  of  reach  of  all  small 
children.  See  Paring,  Bevelling,  and  Chamfering. 

Draw-Shave. — See  Draw-knife. 

Drill. — Drills  for  metal  only  are  often  useful  to  the  wood- 
worker, but  the  one  most  important  for  the  amateur  is  the  twist- 
drill.  See  Twist-drill. 

Drill-Stock. — There  are  various  patterns  of  drill-stocks,  some 
of  them  automatic,  for  holding  drills  of  different  sizes  for  small 
holes.  Hand  drills  with  revolving  handle,  like  an  egg-beater, 
can  be  used  for  small  drills.  See  Bit-brace. 

Duck's-bill-Bit— See  Bits. 

Expansion-Bit. — See  Bits. 

File. — 'The  file  is  a  piece  of  hard  steel  with  rows  of  ridges  or 
teeth  cut  obliquely  on  the  surface.  When  cut  in  one  direction 
only  it  is  called  sing/e-cut,  but  when  there  are  two  oblique  rows 
of  teeth  crossing  each  other  it  is  called  double-cut.  These  ridges 
incline  towards  the  end  or  point  of  the  tool,  so  that  the  file,  like 
the  saw,  plane,  and  scraper,  cuts  when  pushed  forward.  Files 
for  wood  have  wider  teeth  than  those  for  metal,  so  do  not  use  a 


380          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

wood  file  on  metal  or  a  metal  file  for  wood.  The  slab-sided 
shape  (Fig.  524)  is  perhaps  the  most  useful,  if  you  can  have  but 
one  file.  A  round  "  rat-tailed  "  file  is  also  useful,  and  various 
other  shapes  if  you  can  have  a  variety.  For  rnetal,  the  triangu- 


FIG.  524. 


FIG.  525. 


lar,  flat,  the  half-round,  shown  in  Fig.  525,  and  the  rat-tail  are 
best.  Files  are  very  important  for  smoothing  or  rounding  edges 
and  curving  surfaces. 

Before  beginning  to  file,  be  sure  that  the  wood  is  firmly  secured 
so  that  it  will  not  slip  and  so  that  you  can  use  the  file  with  both 
hands.  Hold  the  tool  with  the  right  hand,  thumb  uppermost, 
and  steady  the  end  with  the  left  hand,  thumb  uppermost  (Fig. 

S26),  or  with  the  fingers  or  palm. 
To  file  squarely  across,  push 
the  tool  steadily  and  evenly 
straight  forward,  without  rocking 
up  and  down,  and  pressing  only 
on  the  forward  stroke. 

In  filing  rounded  surfaces,  a 
rocking  motion  is  often  helpful 
and  the  way  and  direction  in 
which  to  file  in  such  cases  must  de- 
pend upon  the  shape  of  the  work 
and  the  grain  of  the  wood,  as  you 
will  quickly  learn.  See  Rounding- 
sticks. 

Press  lightly  the  first  time  you 
use  a  new  file,  until  the  fine  edges 
of  the  teeth  have  been  worn  a 
little,  as  a  violent  filing  on  the  first  strokes  may  damage  the  cutting 
edges  of  the  teeth. 


FIG.  526. 


Tools  and  Operations  381 

When  a  file  becomes  clogged  with  wood-dust  or  other  sub- 
stances, soak  it  in  hot  water  a  little  while  and  then  brush  with  a 
stiff  brush.  A  file-card  is  useful.  A  piece  of  dog-fish  skin,  if 
you  can  obtain  it,  cuts  somewhat  like  a  file  or  coarse  sandpaper, 
and  is  useful  for  curved  surfaces  where  you  wish  to  use  the  tools 
after  smoothing. 

Filing.— See  File. 

Filing  (of  Saws). — See  Sharpening. 

Finishing. — To  acquire  a  high  degree  of  proficiency  in  finish- 
ing indoor  woodwork  requires  long  training  and  practice,  but  the 
simpler  processes  can  be  undertaken  to  good  advantage  by  the 
beginner. 

There  are  a  number  of  ways  from  which  to  choose.  Simply 
rubbing  thoroughly  with  linseed  oil  gives  a  good,  soft,  permanent 
finish,  which  some  prefer  to  anything  else,  but  you  should  be  sure 
that  all  superfluous  oil  is  rubbed  off.  Do  not  hang  a  recently 
oiled  book-shelf  or  cabinet  against  the  wall-paper  of  the  room,  for 
fear  of  defacing  it.  An  oil  finish,  unless  rubbed  a  good  deal,  has 
the  disadvantage  of  getting  soiled  and  collecting  dust  and  dirt, 
but  it  is  easily  sandpapered  and  renewed  and  is  certainly  in  bet- 
ter taste  than  a  coarse,  shiny,  cheap  varnish. 

An  old-fashioned  way  is  simply  to  apply  a  mixture  of  turpen- 
tine and  beeswax,  rubbing  it  as  long  as  your  strength  and  patience 
will  allow.  Melt  some  beeswax  in  a  can  or  saucepan  and,  when 
melted  and  taken  from  the  stove,  pour  in  enough  turpentine  to 
make  it  the  consistency  of  paste.  Then  apply  with  a  brush  or 
cloth  and  rub  in  and  clean  off  the  excess  with  a  stiff  brush  or 
cloth,  scrubbing  the  work  as  you  would  a  stove.  This  makes  a 
beautiful  finish,  soft  and  lustrous.  It  shows  spots,  however,  and, 
though  it  is  so  easily  applied,  it  requires  continual  renewing  and 
rubbing  to  be  kept  in  good  condition. 

To  make  a  hard  and  durable  coating  on  the  surface  of  the 
wood  some  kind  of  varnish  is  required.  There  is  nothing  better 


382          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

than  shellac  for  the  purpose  of  the  amateur.  It  is  not  very  hard 
to  use,  and  there  is  certainly  nothing  which  gives  a  finish  of  nicer 
quality.  The  surface  dries  quickly  and  the  coat  hardens  more 
rapidly  than  most  kinds  of  varnish.  For  some  cases,  as  a  boat, 
it  is  well  to  shellac  first  and  finish  with  good  varnish.'  Shellac  is 
cut  (dissolved)  in  alcohol,  and  can  be  bought  prepared,  but  it 
is  better  to  cut  it  yourself,  to  diminish  the  chance  of  adulteration 
with  cheaper  substances.  Orange  shellac  will  do  for  most  of  your 
work.  Into  an  open-mouthed  bottle  put  some  of  the  shellac 
^  which  comes  in  flakes  and  looks  somewhat  like  glue)  and  pour 
over  it  enough  grain  alcohol  (95  per  cent,  grade)  to  somewhat 
more  than  cover  the  shellac.  Cork  the  bottle  and  leave  in  a 
warm  place  until  the  shellac  is  cut.  Shaking  will  hasten  the 
process.  Wood  alcohol  can  be  used  and  is  cheaper,  but  work 
done  with  it  is  not  so  good.  It  is  a  deadly  poison  taken  in- 
ternally and  on  account  of  the  fumes  it  is  best  not  to  use  it  for  a 
long  time  in  a  close  room.  If  the  tawny  tint  of  the  orange 
shellac  is  objectionable,  white  (bleached)  shellac  can  be  used, 
but  this  it  is  well  to  buy  already  prepared.  It  is  a  little  harder 
to  use  than  the  coloured  kind. 

Use  a  flat  bristle-brush  and  not  a  soft  camel's-hair  brush,  unless 
for  the  last  coat.  One  from  one  inch  to  two  inches  wide  will  be 
probably  suitable  for  most  of  your  work.  For  large  surfaces, 
however,  a  larger  brush  is  better.  After  using,  always  clean  the 
brush  thoroughly  with  alcohol. 

Always  shellac  in  a  warm,  dry  place,  free  from  dust — never 
where  it  is  cold  and  damp  ;  but  on  the  other  hand  do  not  leave 
the  work  close  to  a  hot  stove  or  it  may  blister. 

The  shellac  should  be  quite  thin.  It  should  flow  very  freely 
from  the  brush.  Of  the  two  extremes,  it  is  better  to  have  it  too 
thin  rather  than  too  thick.  Three  or  four  thin  coats  give  a  much 

1  Shellac  is,  strictly  speaking,  a  kind  of  varnish,  but  it  is  so  different  from 
many  kinds  of  varnish  in  common  use  that  it  is  quite  commonly  spoken  of  as 
shellac,  in  contradistinction  from  what  is  popularly  known  as  varnish,  and  the 
term  is  so  used  here. 


Tools  and  Operations  383 

better  result  than  two  coats  of  thick,  gummy  shellac.  Never  try 
to  thin  it  with  anything  but  alcohol.  Keep  the  bottle  corked  to 
prevent  evaporation  of  the  alcohol  and  to  keep  out  the  dust. 

Before  beginning  to  shellac,  see  that  the  work  is  free  from 
dust.  Pour  a  small  quantity  of  the  shellac  into  a  small  dish  of 
glass  or  earthenware,  not  of  tin.  Before  applying  to  the  wood, 
wipe  the  surplus  shellac  from  the  brush  on  the  edge  of  the  dish, 
so  that  it  will  not  drip,  and  then  lay  on  the  coat  as  evenly  and 
smoothly  as  possible,  working  from  the  top  or  from  one  end  or 
side,  and  with  the  grain,  so  far  as  possible.1  Do  not  apply  the 
brush  at  first  exactly  at  the  edge  of  the  surface,  lest  the  shellac 
collect  too  thickly  at  the  edge,  but  apply  the  brush  first  a  little 
way  on  the  surface  and  then  work  from  the  edge.  Work  quickly 
and  lightly.  Begin  and  end  the  strokes  of  the  brush  gradually 
— lighten  them  at  the  end — so  as  to  avoid  a  "  lap  "  when  the 
strokes  begin  again.  Do  not  work  over  the  coat  after  it  has  be- 
gun to  set  or  try  to  patch  up  spots.  Simply  lay  it  on  as  well  as 
you  can  and  let  it  go  at  that.  If  it  is  not  right  you  will  know 
how  to  do  better  next  time. 

Give  each  coat  plenty  of  time  to  harden  before  applying 
another — twenty-four  hours  is  none  too  long.  Do  not  put  on  five 
or  six  coats  in  a  day  as  is  sometimes  done.  The  outer  coat 
hinders  the  drying  of  the  shellac  underneath,  by  keeping  the  air 
from  it, — just  as  with  paints, — and  the  way  to  do  durable  work 
is  not  to  put  on  a  fresh  coat  until  the  previous  one  is  thoroughly 
dry  and  hard.  Shellac  dries  very  quickly  so  that  you  can  touch 
it,  but  does  not  get  really  hard  throughout  for  some  time,  so  do 
not  be  in  haste  to  put  on  a  second  coat.* 

1  In  shellacing  doors  or  panel  work,  first  shellac  the  panels,  then  the  rails, 
and  finally  the  styles  (see  Fig.  505),  because  daubs  or  runs  can  be  wiped  off 
and  covered  better  when  you  thus  follow  the  construction  of  the  work. 

2  As  an  extreme  illustration,  it  may  be  interesting  to  note  the  way  the  best 
lacquer  work  (which  is  so  durable)  is  made  by  the  Japanese,  an  article  being 
given,  as  Professor  Morse  tells  us,  one  coat  a  year,  the  finest  work  having 
twenty-one  coats  and  the  artist  rowing  out  to  sea  for  miles  each  time  to  make 
sure  that  all  dust  is  avoided. 


384          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

If  there  are  holes,  cracks,  or  defects  of  any  kind  to  be  filled 
up,  this  is  the  time  to  do  it — after  the  first  coat  is  hard.  One 
way  to  do  this  is  to  hold  a  hot  iron  close  to  a  piece  of  shellac 
directly  over  the  hole,  which  will  be  filled  with  the  melted  shellac. 
The  surplus  can  be  carefully  pared  off  after  it  is  hard.  Another 
way  is  to  use  wax  coloured  to  match  the  wood.  The  wax  can 
easily  be  coloured  by  melting  and  adding  a  small  quantity  of 
whatever  dry  colour — burnt  umber,  for  instance — may  be  re- 
quired. Do  not  use  putty  in  such  cases. 

When  the  first  coat  is  hard,  skim  over  the  surface  with  very 
fine  sandpaper  (oo),  to  remove  any  roughnesses,  and  apply  the 
second  coat.  This  is  sometimes  sufficient.  If  not,  sandpaper 
and  shellac  again,  and  a  fourth  time  if  necessary.  When  you 
have  a  sufficient  "  body  "  of  shellac  on  the  wood,  you  can  much 
improve  the  quality  of  the  surface  by  rubbing  it  down  with  pow- 
dered pumice-stone  and  oil,  which  will  remove  the  "  shiny  "  effect 
and  leave  a  softer  and  finer  surface.  To  do  this,  take  a  bit  of 
felt  or  haircloth,  and  wet  it  with  thin  oil  (kerosene  will  do,  or 
petroleum,  or  linseed  oil  thinned  with  turpentine  or  benzine,  but 
the  latter  is  dangerous  to  have  around),  take  up  a  little  of  the 
pumice,  and  carefully  and  evenly  rub  over  the  surface,  with  the 
grain,  renewing  the  oil  and  pumice  as  may  be  needed,  or  they 
can  be  sprinkled  on  the  work.  But  be  careful  to  rub  evenly  and 
not  too  long  on  any  one  spot,  for  it  will  be  hard  to  repair  the 
damage  if  you  should  rub  through  to  the  wood.  Wipe  the  whole 
off  thoroughly  with  soft  cloth.  This  process  will  be  sufficient  for 
most  amateur  work.  For  some  work  simply  rubbing  down  with 
the  finest  sandpaper  wet  with  oil  is  enough.  In  using  sandpapei 
for  rubbing  down  nice  work,  split  it — that  is,  remove  the  outer 
layer  of  paper,  which  will  leave  the  sanded  layer  thin  and  pliable 
and  less  likely  to  scratch  or  rub  through  the  finish.  A  handful 
of  tightly  squeezed  curled  hair  can  be  used. 

If  varnish  is  to  be  used  over  the  shellac  as  in  case  of  a  boat, 
simply  sandpaper  the  shellac  and  do  not  rub  with  pumice  and  oil. 

With  fine-grained  wood,   such  as  cherry,    the  process  given 


Tools  and  Operations  385 

above  is  all  that  will  be  required,  but  with  coarse,  open-grained 
wood,  like  oak,  a  good  many  coats  will  be  needed  to  fill  the  pores 
and  give  a  smooth  surface.  Therefore  a  "  filler  "  is  often  used 
to  fill  the  pores  of  the  grain.  This  is  cheap  and  can  be  bought 
in  the  form  of  paste  (either  light  or  dark),  which  you  can  apply 
according  to  the  directions  on  the  can.  Rub  it  into  the  wood 
thoroughly,  let  it  stand  until  it  begins  to  set,  or  stiffen,  then  rub  it 
off  with  a  bit  of  burlap  or  any  coarse  material,  across  the  grain  (lest 
you  wipe  it  out  of  the  pores).  After  it  has  become  hard  enough, 
sandpaper,  and  clean  off  any  that  may  remain  on  the  surface. 
Then  shellac  as  described.  The  filler  can  have  the  shade  of  the 
wood,  or  sometimes,  as  in  oak,  the  figure  of  the  grain  can  be 
brought  out  finely  by  using  a  filler  somewhat  darker  than  the  hue 
of  the  wood.  Be  sure  to  clean  off  the  filler  thoroughly,  using  a 
tool  lo  clean  out  the  angles  and  corners,  or  the  finished  surface 
will  have  a  cloudy  or  muddy  appearance. 

The  general  directions  given  for  shellacing  apply  also  to  the 
use  of  varnish,  but  varnishing  is  in  some  respects  harder  for  the 
amateur  to  do  well.  Consult  the  dealer  about  the  kind  of  varnish 
and  the  brush  best  suited  to  the  particular  piece  of  work  you  have 
in  hand.  The  final  coat  of  varnish  can  be  rubbed  down  with 
pumice  or  tripoli  and  water.  Rotten-stone  used  with  oil  (petro- 
leum is  good)  is  excellent  for  giving  a  soft  polish. 

French  polishing  is  often  attempted  by  the  amateur,  but  it 
should  be  learned  by  taking  a  lesson  from  a  practical  polisher, 
and  not  from  a  book.  The  general  idea  of  the  process  is  as 
follows:  A  wad  or  pad  of  wool  is  made  and  on  this  is  poured 
thin  shellac,  adding  whatever  alcohol  may  be  necessary.  This 
wet  pad  is  then  covered  with  a  piece  of  clean  linen,  a  drop  of  oil 
put  on  the  outside  to  prevent  the  shellac  from  sticking,  and  the 
pad  is  then  quickly  passed  over  the  surface  with  a  circular  motion, 
or  with  longer  strokes  in  the  form  of  the  figure  8,  or  in  some 
cases  simply  back  and  forth.  After  doing  this  for  a  while  a  very 
thin  coat  will  have  been  deposited.  This  is  allowed  to  dry  for  a 
short  time,  when  the  process  is  repeated,  again  and  again,  until  a 


386          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

sufficient  body  of  the  polished  finish  has  been  formed.  The  de- 
tails of  the  process  vary  with  different  finishers.  It  is  quite  easy 
to  polish  a  small  flat  surface  or  such  an  object  as  the  arm  of  a 
chair,  but  it  is  much  harder  for  an  amateur  to  successfully  polish 
a  large  flat  surface,  like  a  table-top,  except  after  much  practice. 
A  first  coating  of  shellac  applied  with  the  brush  and  skimmed 
over  with  sandpaper  will  save  labour  in  the  polishing  process. 

Before  refinishing  old  work  it  should,  if  the  surface  is  in  bad 
condition,  be  scraped  down  to  the  wood,  using  the  scraper  and 
finishing  with  sandpaper.  A  chisel  (used  like  the  scraper)  is 
sometimes  convenient  to  remove  a  thick  body  of  old  varnish.  If 
the  surface  does  not  need  scraping,  it  should  be  cleaned,  either 
by  washing  with  soapsuds  or  it  can  be  scrubbed  clean  with  the 
finest  sandpaper,  split,  using  oil  or  water  as  the  case  may  be,  but 
seeing  that  the  work  is  wiped  off  perfectly  dry  before  applying  a 
new  coat.  Pumice  can  be  used,  as  already  described,  and  a  stiff 
brush,  like  a  nail-  or  tooth-brush,  is  excellent  for  cleaning  out 
corners  and  carved  work. 

For  simply  brightening  and  cleaning  furniture,  a  mixture  of 
equal  parts  of  linseed  oil  and  turpentine  with  a  minute  quantity 
of  japan  is  excellent.  It  should  be  well  rubbed  and  carefully 
cleaned  off.  This  will  make  scratches  and  bruises  less  con- 
spicuous, and  will  make  the  article  look  fresher  for  a  time,  but 
it  is  only  a  cleaner  and  not  a  substitute  for  refinishing. 

Firmer-Chisel. — See  Chisel. 
Fore-Plane. — See  Plane. 
Framing-Chisel.     See  Chisel. 

Gauge. — There  are  many  kinds  of  gauges  in  the  market,  but 
they  all  depend  on  the  same  principle,  having  a  block,  head, 
stock,  or  fence,  to  slide  along  against  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and 
a  bar,  beam,  or  stem,  which  slides  through  the  block,  can  be  set 
to  project  from  it  at  any  required  distance,  and  which  has  near 
its  end  a  spur  or  marking  point  (Fig.  533).  The  stem  has  the 
divisions  of  a  rule  marked  upon  it,  so  that  the  spur  can  be  readily 


Tools  and  Operations  387 

set  at  the  required  distance.  In  some  gauges  the  spur  or  marking 
point  is  sharpened  to  an  edge  parallel  with  the  head,  rather 
than  to  a  point,  as  it  is  more  certain  to  make  a  clear,  sharp  line, 
and  is  best  when  slightly  convex  on  the  side  toward  the  head 
(Fig.  527).  This  gives  the  spur  a  tendency  to  run  the  line  away 
from  and  not  toward  the  edge  where  the 
head  is,  thus  helping  to  keep  the  head 
close  up  to  the  edge.  Sometimes  a  round 
point  is  used,  and  occasionally  a  knife 
point  or  blade  for  cutting  thin  stock  into 


strips  ;  and  sometimes  a  wheel  with  sharp-  pIG  527 

ened  edge.  A  form  of  gauge  adapted  for 
gauging  from  curved  as  well  as  straight  edges  is  also  made.  Do 
not  trust  the  accuracy  of  the  scale  marked  on  a  common  gauge, 
for  if  the  spur  is  at  all  out  of  place,  as  is  sometimes  the  case, 
you  cannot  rely  upon  the  scale.  Test  by  measuring  from  the 
head  to  the  spur  with  the  rule. 

The  mortise-gauge  has  two  spurs,  one  of  which  is  movable  and 
can  be  set  at  any  required  distance  from  the  other,  so  that  two 
lines  can  be  marked  at  once,  as  for  a  mortise.  This  is  a  time-sav- 
ing tool,  and  very  convenient,but  not  a  necessity  for  amateur  work. 

There  are  gauges  with  long  beams  or  stems  and  with  long 
heads  for  gauging  across  wide  spaces,  but  when  you  need  any- 
thing of  the  sort  you  can  easily  make  it  and  use  with  it  either 
pencil,  awl,  or  knife,  as  may  best  suit  the  case  in  hand. 

If  you  wish  to  draw  a  line  two  inches  from  the  edge  of  a  board, 
for  example,  you  can  mark  off  two  or  more  points  at  the  required 
distance  and  with  a  rule  and  pencil  draw  the  line  through  these 
points.  If  you  were  to  make  the  points  so  near  together  as  to 
touch,  you  would  have  the  line  without  needing  the  ruler.  This 
is  what  the  gauge  does.  It  makes  a  continuous  measurement  and 
a  continuous  mark,  which  is  of  course  the  line  required. 

The  only  gauge  you  need  for  rough  work  is  a  rule  (or  even  a 
stick)  and  a  pencil.  To  draw  a  line,  for  example,  two  inches 
from  the  edge  of  a  board,  take  the  rule  in  one  hand,  and  lay  the 


388          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


end  flat  on  the  surface  of  the  board  so  that  it  laps  over  two  inches 
from  the  edge  (Fig.  528).  Place  the  forefinger  underneath, 
against  the  edge,  so  that  the  end  of  the  rule  will  remain  two 
inches  from  the  edge,  and  simply  slide  rule  and  finger  along  the 
edge,  holding  a  pencil  at  the  end  of  the  rule  with  the  other  hand 

to  make  the  mark.  The 
finger  must  be  kept  evenly 
pressed  against  the  edge. 
This  is  only  suited  for 
rough  work,  or  for  getting 
out  stock  approximately 
to  shape,  and  of  course 
cannot  be  depended  upon 
for  accurate  measure- 
ment. 

Something  more  accur- 
ate, with  which  you  can- 
not get  splinters  in  your 
finger,  can  easily  be 

made,  when  needed,  in  this  way.  To  run  a  line  two  inches  from 
an  edge,  for  example,  and  parallel  to  it,  simply  take  any  short 
stick  and  cut  a  piece  out  of  it  at  one  end  so  that  the  distance  from 
the  shoulder  to  the  end  will  be  just  two  inches, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  529.  Apply  this  to  the  edge 
of  the  piece  and  slide  it  along  on  the  same 
principle  as  the  rule  and  finger,  being  care- 
ful to  keep  the  shoulder  pressed  up  to  the 
edge  and  the  pencil  or  knife  held  firmly 
against  the  end.  Instead  of  cutting  out  a 
piece  you  can  nail  one  piece  on  another 
(Fig.  530).  The  latter  is  better  for  straight 
work  because  the  head  or  fence  is  longer 
and  so  can  be  more  securely  pressed  against 
the  edge.  An  objection  to  this  gauge  is  the  need  of  making  a 
new  one  for  every  measurement,  but  where  there  is  occasion  to 


FIG.  528. 


FIG.  530. 


Tools  and  Operations 


389 


keep  repeating  a  measurement  it  is  particularly  convenient  and 

quickly  made. 

For  another  home-made  gauge  (Fig.  531)  cut  a  recess  in  one 

side  of  a  block  just  wide  enough  to  hold  the  rule  and  just  deep 

enough  so  that  the  flat  side 
of  the  rule  will  project  a 
trifle  above  the  surface  of 
the  block.  On  this  side  of 
the  block  fasten  a  small  strip, 


FIG.  531. 


FIG.  532. 


with  a  screw,  so  that  when  the  two  pieces  are  seized  in  the  hand 
the  rule  will  be  held  fast  at  the  point  to  which  it  is  adjusted. 
This  is  more  accurate  than  to  use  the  hand  alone.  You  can 
readily  contrive  such  arrangements,  which  will  be  quite  accurate 
if  carefully  used,  but  it  is  not  worth  while  to  spend  much  time 
over  such  makeshifts  (except  in  case  of  necessity),  for  a  fairly 
good  gauge  can  be  bought  for  a  small  sum. 

The  gauge  is  usually  an  awkward  tool  for  the  beginner  to  use. 
He  finds  it  hard  to  keep  the  stock  firmly  against  the  edge  while 

sliding  it  along,  and  lets  the 
spur  dig  or  plough  deeply 
into  the  wood — the  spur 
tends  to  follow  the  grain  of 
the  wood  and  when  the  grain 
runs  toward  the  edge  the  re- 
sult is  often  as  shown  in  Fig. 
532,  the  stock  being  pushed 
FlG-  533'  from  the  edge.  The  stock  is 

then  pushed  back  and  the  wobbly  process  continued.  To- avoid 
these  errors,  the  gauge,  held  well  in  front  of  you  in  one  hand, 
should  be  tipped  or  inclined  from  you  so  that  the  spur  will  be 


390          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

drawn  along  the  surface  (Fig.  533)  and  will  make  but  a  slight 
scratch.  Then,  keeping  the  stock  or  head  firmly  pressed  against 
the  edge,  push  the  gauge  steadily  from  you,  watchrng  carefully 
to  see  (ist)  that  the  spur  does  not  begin  to  dig  into  the  wood  in- 
stead of  lightly  scratching  it,  and  (2d)  that  the  head  does  not 
slip  away  from  the  edge.  This  will  prevent  the  point  catching 
or  jumping  and  will  insure  a  good  mark,  which  can  easily  be 
deepened  by  going  over  the  line  a  second  time  if  necessary. 

It  is  easier  to  mark  a  line  when  the  spur  is  near  the  head  of  the 
gauge  than  when  it  is  run  out  to  some  distance.  The  guiding 
power  of  the  fence  or  head  is  greater  over  a  point  near  to  it  than 
over  a  point  at  a  distance,  from  which  you  can  readily  see  that, 
conversely,  the  longer  the  head  or  fence,  the  easier  the  gauging 
becomes — that  is,  for  straight  lines,  which  is  much  the  most  com- 
mon use  of  the  gauge.  In  gauging  from  a  curved  edge,  a  long 
fence,  unless  curved,  would  be  impracticable. 

Where  it  will  injure  the  work  to  have  the  gauge  marks  show 
(as  when  the  work  is  to  be  finished  with  shellac  or  varnish),  be 
careful  not  to  carry  them  farther  than  necessary,  as  very  slight 
scratches  show  plainly  after  finishing.  Otherwise,  in  cases  where 
the  marks  will  not  show  or  do  no  harm,  as  in  rough  framing,  it 
is  as  well  to  run  them  past  the  required  points,  as  it  is  quicker 
to  do  so  and  the  juncture  of  lines  which  cross  is  more  distinct. 

Gauge  from  the  same  side  of  the  wood  in  laying  out  mortises 
or  any  lines  intended  to  be  in  the  middle  of  a  piece  of  wood,  or  at 
a  fixed  distance  from  one  edge,  else  if  the  edges  are  not  exactly 
parallel  (as  is  often  the  case)  the  markings  will  differ.  See  also 
Scribing. 

Gimlet. — The  gimlet  is  useful,  cheap,  and  good  for  boring 
where  the  hole  does  not  come  near  the  edge,  but  near  the  edge 
or  in  thin  wood  great  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  splitting.  If 
necessary  to  use  it  in  such  a  case,  keep  turning  it  backwards  for 
every  turn  ahead  and  do  not  try  to  force  it  through  the  wood. 
It  is  l?etter?  however,  to  use  some  other  tpol  if  you  can  (see  Bits 


Tools  and  Operations  391 

and  Twist- drill},  for  the  tapering  form  of  the  gimlet  gives  it  a 
wedge-like,  prying  action  upon  the  woody  fibres. 

Gimlet-Bit.— See  Bits. 

Glazing. — An  old  chisel  can  be  used  to  clean  off  old  putty 
before  setting  glass.  On  new  work,  see  that  the  rabbet  or 
shoulder  where  the  putty  is  to  go  is  primed  with  lead  paint  be- 
fore putting  on  the  putty  (see  Painting).  You  can  buy  glazier's 
points,  to  hold  the  glass  in  position  under  the  putty,  for  a  trifle, 
or  very  small  brads  can  be  used.  No  special  directions  are 
necessary  for  using  the  putty. 

To  set  common  glass  in  furniture,  as  in  bookcase  doors,  it  is 
better  to  fasten  it  in  place  with  small  strips,  not  pressed  too  tightly 
against  it.  Strips  of  plain  moulding  are  good.  To  set  plate  glass 
in  furniture,  the  same  means  can  be  used  for  small  pieces,  but 
large  plates,  as  for  a  mirror,  should  be  held  in  place  by  little  strips 
of  soft  pine,  one  or  two  inches  long,  bevelled  on  one  side.  The 
other  side  being  glued,  these  strips  can  be  lightly  pressed  into 
the  crack  around  the  glass.  These  short  pieces,  glued  to  the 
frame  on  one  side  and  with  the  bevelled  side  wedging  the  glass 
into  place,  hold  the  latter  securely,  but,  owing  to  the  softness  of 
the  wood,  not  too  rigidly. 

Glue. — See  Gluing. 

Gluing. — Glue  is  made  from  refuse  animal  matter,  and  also 
from  parts  of  fishes,  the  latter  being  known  as  fish  glue.  It 
comes  in  sheets  or  cakes  or  flakes,  to  be  dissolved  and  used  hot, 
or  already  prepared  in  liquid  form. 

The  majority  of  practical  mechanics  prefer  the  former  (/'.  <?., 
"  hot  "  glue)  for  nice  work,  although  the  use  of  liquid  glue  has 
increased  much  of  late  years.  Hot  glue  is  probably  preferable 
if  all  the  conditions  are  just  as  they  should  be,  but  if  not  so, 
liquid  or  "  cold  "  glue  may  be  better. 

Buy  the  best  grade.  It  is  the  cheapest  for  good  work,  and  you 
will  not  use  enough  to  make  the  price  much  of  an  obstacle.  The 


392          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

only  sure  test  by  which  to  buy  glue  is  to  get  a  little  and  see  how 
it  holds.  A  good  way  to  prove  the  quality  of  your  glue  is  to  soak 
it  over  night,  or  as  long  as  may  be  necessary,  in  whatever  quantity 
of  water  you  think  it  will  absorb.  The  more  it  will  swell  without 
dissolving,  the  better  the  quality.  Poor  glue  will  dissolve. 

You  cannot  positively  tell  good  glue  by  the  colour,  for  there 
are  many  kinds  (and  for  more  than  one  purpose)  and  many 
makers,  but  whatever  the  colour,  the  glue  should  be  clear  looking 
and  not  cloudy  or  muddy.  Do  not  use  glue  that  has  a  mouldy 
or  otherwise  disagreeable  or  offensive  smell  or  a  bad  taste. 

To  prepare  hot  glue,  break  the  glue  into  small  pieces,  and  soak 
it  in  all  the  cold  water  it  will  absorb  for  perhaps  twelve  hours, 
when  it  will  have  become  swollen  and  softened  and  will  look  and 
feel  somewhat  like  jelly.  Then  put  it  in  the  inner  glue-pot  (see 
Glue-pot]  and  cause  the  water  in  the  outer  vessel  to  boil  for  several 
hours.  It  is  quicker  to  dissolve  the  glue  at  once  without  soak- 
ing, but  the  result  does  not  seem  to  be  quite  as  good  as  by  the 
former  method.  The  glue  to  be  right  for  use  must  be  thin 
enough  to  drip  from  the  brush  in  a  thread  or  stream,  without 
collecting  in  drops  like  water,  and  you  can  tell  something  about 
its  being  in  condition  to  use  by  testing  it  between  your  fingers. 
Do  not  weaken  its  strength,  however,  by  diluting  with  more  water 
than  is  necessary. 

It  is  important  to  keep  the  glue  and  the  glue-pot  clean,  and  if 
the  odour  from  your  glue  becomes  offensive  at  any  time  clean 
out  the  glue-pot  and  make  fresh. 

Glue  loses  strength  by  repeated  meltings,  so  do  not  dissolve  too 
much  at  a  time,  and  after  heating  it  over  two  or  three  times  throw 
away  any  that  is  left  in  the  glue-pot,  cleaning  the  latter  thor- 
oughly. On  work  which  you  are  very  particular  about  mix  fresh 
glue  each  time.1 

'Two  pieces  properly  glued  are  often  stronger  than  one  solid  piece  —  that 
is,  the  glued  joint  is  stronger  than  the  wood  itself,  as  you  will  probably  dis- 
cover some  day  when  you  have  occasion  to  break  apart  a  piece  of  good  gluing ; 
but  after  a  long  time  the  glue  is  apt  to  deteriorate  in  adhesive  or  cohesive 


Tools  and  Operations  393 

You  can  make  a  good  glue-brush  of  a  stick  of  rattan.  Soften 
the  end  in  hot  water  and  pound  it  with  the  hammer  until  the 
fibres  separate.  For  corners,  cracks,  holes,  and  the  like  use 
sticks,  which  you  can  whittle  to  any  required  shape. 

Although  apparently  too  simple  an  operation  to  need  much 
explanation,  and  often  ignored  in  books  on  woodwork,  as  if  any- 
one could  of  course  glue  two  pieces  together,  the  operation,  to  be 
really  successful,  calls  for  more  knowledge  of  the  principles  in- 
volved than  beginners  or  amateurs  usually  possess.  Do  not  daub 
a  thick  layer  of  lukewarm  glue  on  the  pieces,  and  then  slap  them 
together  as  you  would  make  a  sandwich,  after  the  usual  domestic 
fashion.  Done  in  this  way  the  pieces  often  stick  for  a  while, 
but  there  is  nothing  certain  about  it. 

We  have  seen  that  wood  is  full  of  little  holes  (pores,  as  they 
are  commonly  called),  or  spaces  between  the  fibres  (see  Fig.  6). 
The  glue  becomes  worked  into  these  little  pores  and  that  is  what 
gives  it  such  a  firm  hold  on  the  wood,  somewhat  as  plastering  is 
forced  (purposely)  into  the  cracks  between  the  laths. 

So  you  must  have  the  glue  thin,  that  it  may  fill  these  little 
cavities  and  get  a  "  grip  "  on  the  wood;  you  must  have  it  hot, 
that  it  may  the  more  easily  penetrate  these  open  spaces  before  it 
becomes  chilled;  you  must  have  the  wood  warm,  that  the  glue 
may  not  be  chilled  and  begin  to  set  before  it  has  a  chance  to 
penetrate  the  interstices  of  the  wood;  and  you  must  press  the 
pieces  together  so  hard  as  to  expel  the  body  of  glue  from  between 
them,  forcing  it  into  the  pores  and  squeezing  outside  what  will 
not  go  in,  to  be  wiped  or  scraped  off  afterward.  For  what  you 
want  is  not  to  have  the  two  pieces  held  together  by  a  layer  of 
glue  between  them,  lightly  sticking  to  each  surface  and  separating 

force,  particularly  if  the  joint  has  not  been  protected  by  paint  or  varnish,  so  do 
the  best  work  you  can  if  you  wish  it  to  last.  Nevertheless,  in  important  work 
it  is  usually  safest  to  take  a  whole  piece  when  you  can,  rather  than  glue  up  two 
or  more  pieces,  except  in  cases,  perhaps,  where  the  matter  of  warping,  etc.,  is 
concerned,  when  it  may  be  better  to  build  up  the  desired  shape  of  pieces 
selected  for  the  purpose, 


394          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

the  two  in  proportion  to  the  thickness  of  the  layer;  but  to 
have  the  two  surfaces  as  close  together  as  possible,  held  so  by  the 
tenacity  of  the  glue  reaching  from  the  cavities  of  one  surface  to 
those  of  the  other.  The  closer  the  surfaces  are  forced  together 
the  better,  as  the  glue  will  be  less  exposed  to  the  atmosphere. 

You  will  see  from  all  this  that  gluing  should  be  done  in  a 
warm  room  of  an  even  temperature. 

While  with  hot  glue  it  will  not  do  to  change  the  relative  posi- 
tions of  the  pieces  after  putting  together,  you  can  have  consid- 
erable time  to  get  them  in  position  if  the  liquid  or  cold  glue  is 
used.  Where  several  places  in  the  same  piece  of  work  have  to 
be  glued  together  at  the  same  time,  it  is  frequently  very  hard  to 
get  around  with  the  hot  glue  before  that  first  applied  has  begun 
to  set,  unless  you  have  help.  In  such  cases,  cold  glue  is  a  great 
convenience.  If  your  shop  is  not  warm  or  if  you  cannot  have 
your  glue  hot,  you  had  better  use  the  liquid  glue.  It  takes  much 
longer  to  set  than  the  other.  In  cold  weather  it  should  be 
slightly  warmed.  It  can  be  thinned  with  vinegar  or  acetic  acid, 
or  what  you  wish  to  use  at  once  may  be  thinned  with  water.  Do 
not  pour  water  into  the  can  of  glue,  as  it  will  not  keep  so  well. 

You  will  also  readily  see  that  it  is  much  easier  to  make  good 
glued  joints  in  soft  wood  than  in  hard,  for  the  former  is  more 
readily  squeezed  to  a  fit  by  the  clamping,  while  with  the  latter  it 
is  quite  essential  that  the  pieces  should  fit  with  extreme  accuracy 
before  clamping  (see  note  under  Clamps}. 

Before  beginning  to  glue  have  everything  laid  out,  fit  the  pieces 
together,  clamp  them  up  just  as  if  you  had  put  on  the  glue,  and 
see  that  everything  comes  together  right  —  i.e.,  rehearse  the 
gluing  process  before  using  the  glue  itself.  This  is  a  very  im- 
portant point,  particularly  when  there  are  several  pieces  to  be 
glued,  for  you  will  have  no  time  to  waste  after  you  have  begun 
to  use  the  glue. 

Do  not  spread  the  glue  on  too  thick.  Take  the  dirt  off  both 
pieces,  then,  while  putting  the  glue  on  one,  have  the  other  warm- 
ing slightly  at  the  fire.  The  moment  the  glue  on  the  brush  leaves 


Tools  and  Operations  395 

the  glue-pot  it  begins  to  cool.  If  it  fairly  begins  to  set  before 
you  get  the  two  pieces  together,  your  joint  will  not  be  good. 
You  will  have  to  take  it  apart,  scrape  off  all  the  old  glue,  and  be- 
gin over  again.  So  you  will  see  there  is  no  time  to  be  lost  when 
once  you  begin  and  it  will  be  too  late  then  to  correct  any  mistakes 
in  the  fitting  of  the  woodwork.  Good  workmen  always  put  the 
work  together  and  take  it  apart  again  before  gluing. 

Do  not  wipe  off  the  glue  which  squeezes  out  from  a  glued  joint 
(unless  for  some  special  reason)  nor  wash  it  off  with  water.  Let 
it  harden,  and  clean  it  off  after  the  joint  has  set.  It  helps  pro- 
tect the  joint. 

Do  not  be  in  haste  to  unclamp  your  work.  When  to  release  it 
depends  on  the  kind  of  wood,  the  kind  of  work,  and  the  circum- 
stances under  which  the  gluing  is  done,  and  no  exact  time  can 
be  set.  If  for  some  temporary  and  unimportant  purpose  and  in 
soft  pine,  for  instance,  you  can  unclamp  in  a  few  hours  or  even 
less,  but  for  important  work,  which  is  to  hold  permanently, 
twelve  hours  is  scarcely  time  enough  even  for  soft  wood  and  hot 
glue,  and  twenty-four  hours  is  none  too  long,  for  though  the  glue 
dries  quickly  to  the  touch,  it  takes  considerable  time  to  get  thor- 
oughly hard.  It  is  safer  to  allow  more  time  for  hard  wood. 
The  thickness  of  the  stock  makes  a  difference  also.  Large  junks 
and  blocks  and  boards  glued  flatways  require  more  time  that  |" 
stock,  thin  strips,  or  little  splinters.  You  can  tell  something  by 
the  condition  of  the  glue  that  is  squeezed  from  the  joint.  Liquid 
glue  sets  much  more  slowly,  and  twenty-four  hours  is  soon  enough 
to  release  the  work  under  average  conditions.  The  warmth  and 
dryness  of  the  air  make  a  good  deal  of  difference.  Under  unfav- 
ourable conditions  more  than  forty-eight  hours  may  be  required. 

If  for  any  reason  you  cannot  clamp  a  joint,  after  applying  the 
glue  rub  one  piece  back  and  forth  upon  the  other  a  few  times. 

Rub  wax,  soap,  or  tallow  on  any  part  which  must  not  be  stuck 
by  surplus  glue  which  may  exude  from  a  joint,  as  in  the  case  of 
a  panel  which  may  become  stuck  by  the  glue  used  in  fastening 
the  frame  (see  Doors  and  Panels], 


396          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

To  glue  two  pieces  where  the  surface  is  to  be  planed  or  trimmed 
at  the  joint,  do  not  glue  them  together  after  they  are  planed  or 
trimmed,  but  glue  them  first,  and  plane  or  trim  them  afterwards, 
taking  care  to  have  the  grain  of  the  pieces  run  in  the  same 
direction  (see  Jointing]. 

To  glue  pieces  end  to  end,  or  as  in  a  mitre, —  that  is,  "  end 
wood," — first  size  with  thin  glue  to  stop  the  pores,  else  the  glue 
will  be  quickly  soaked  up.  Then,  after  allowing  this  coat  to 
stand,  glue  in  the  ordinary  way.  But  glued  joints  in  end  wood 
are  seldom  good  and  are  to  be  avoided. 

A  great  deal  of  glued  work  comes  apart,  and  a  great  many  mis- 
takes in  putting  work  together  are  caused  by  not  understanding, 
or  not  bearing  in  mind,  the  way  wood  expands  and  contracts  and 
warps  and  winds  from  heat  and  cold,  dryness  and  moisture. 
This  is  an  important  matter  if  you  wish  to  do  good  gluing.  Do 
not  think  that  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  have  your  wood  dry  and 
that  then  you  can  glue  the  pieces  together  in  any  relative  positions. 
Veneers  or  thin  pieces  are  sometimes  successfully  glued  with  the 
grain  of  the  pieces  running  at  right  angles,  as  seen  in  chair  seats, 
but  as  a  rule  avoid  gluing  wide  pieces  together  with  the  grain 
running  at  right  angles.  See  Laying  out  the  Work^  in  Chapter 
IV. ;  also  Jointing. 

Glue-Pot. — This  can  be  bought  of  copper,  iron,  or  tin.  A 
medium-sized  one  is  more  useful  than  a  very  small  one.  Have 
a  cover  to  keep  out  dust  and  loose  particles. 

If  obliged  to  make  shift  without  a  proper  glue-pot,  always  use 
two  dishes  like  a  regular  glue-pot,  with  water  in  the  outer  one,  on 
the  principle  of  the  double  boiler  used  for  cooking,  else  the  glue 
will  be  sure  to  burn  and  be  spoiled.  Two  cans,  such  as  are  used 
for  tomatoes  or  other  vegetables,  can  be  used  on  a  pinch,  one 
being  larger  than  the  other  and  fastened  in  place  with  wire  or  in 
some  way  to  keep  the  smaller  can  from  moving  around  too  much  ; 
but  a  regular  glue-pot  is  much  better.  See  Gluing. 

Gouge. — This  tool  is  similar  to  the  chisel,  except  for  the 


Tools  and  Operations 


397 


curvature  across  the  blade.  The  common  gouge  has  the  bevel 
on  the  convex  or  outer  side  and  is  known  as  an  "outside" 
gouge.  This  is  the  more  useful  for  ordinary  work.  The  "  in- 
side "  gouge  has  the  bevel  on  the  inner  or  concave  side. 
Although  very  useful  for  many  purposes,  it  is  less  important  for 
general  work  and  is  harder  to  sharpen. 

Gouges  are  of  various  degrees  of  curvature,    Vss^ • — '     I     / 

Fig.  534  showing  a  "flat"  and  a  "quick"  p 

curve.     Those  of  moderate  depth  and  curva- 
ture will  be  more  useful  for  your  work  than  very  deep  or  very 
flat  ones. 

In  using  the  common  or  "  outside  "  gouge,  light,  short  strokes 


FIG.  535. 

should  usually  be  made,  for  only  the  bevel  of  the  tool  bears  on 
the  wood,  which  makes  this  gouge  quite  hard  to  control. 

You  can  often  apply  the  principle  of  the  sliding  or  sideways 
cut  in  using  the  gouge,  as  with  the  chisel,  to  good  advantage. 

You  can  roll  the  gouge  around 
with  your  hand  from  side  to  side 
so  as  to  make  it  cut  slantingly. 
This  is  particularly  useful  to  give 
a  clean  cut  when  gouging  across 
the  grain  (Fig.  535).  In  some 
cases,  in  working  out  a  moulding, 
for  instance,  you  can  hold  the 
tool  at  an  angle  with  the  work  and 


FIG.  536. 


get  a  better  result  than  to  push  it  straight  forward  lengthways 
(Fig.  536). 

Be  careful  not  to  scoop  out  little  hollows  below  the  required 


Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

depth  of  the  cut,  and  keep  the  direction  of  the  grain  in  mind  the 
same  as  with  the  chisel.  The  little  inequalities  left  by  the  gouge 
can  be  reduced  easily  by  the  file,  curved  scraper,  or  glass  and 
sandpaper.  See  Sharpening. 

Gouge-Bit.— See  Bits. 

Grindstone. — When  you  get  to  the  point  of  having  a  grind- 
stone, get  one  which  is  somewhat  soft  and  fine,  for  if  too  coarse 
it  will  produce  a  rougher  edge  than  is  desirable  for  your  tools. 

Do  not  allow  your  grindstone  to  become  softened  in  spots  by 
being  left  partially  immersed  in  a  trough  of  water,  as  it  will  wear 
away  irregularly.  With  the  best  of  care  a  stone  will,  however, 
become  untrue  after  continued  use,  not  merely  in  its  circular 
outline,  but  the  face  will  become  hollowed  and  uneven.  It  must 
then  be  trued,  either  by  some  one  of  the  contrivances  now  made 
for  the  purpose,  or  by  simply  turning  the  stone  into  the  correct 
shape  by  holding  the  end  of  a  piece  of  soft  iron,  as  a  piece  of 
pipe,  against  the  surface,  without  water,  moving  the  iron  as  oc- 
casion requires,  until  the  stone  becomes  true. 

Grooving. — Grooves  of  different  dimensions  are  often  required 
for  various  purposes  in  wood-working.  By  far  the  best  way,  as  a 
practical  matter,  is  to  take  the  work  to  a  mill  and  have  the  groov- 
ing done  by  machine,  which  is  not  expensive.  It  can  be  done 
by  hand  with  the  planes  devised  for  the  purpose  (as  the  plough), 
but  though  these  are  valuable  tools,  they  are  largely  superseded, 
or  becoming  so,  by  machine-work,  and  it  is  usually  fully  as  well 
for  the  amateur  to  take  such  work  to  the  mill  as  to  buy  the  tools. 

In  some  cases  the  sides  of  the  groove  can  be  sawed  by  the  hand- 
saws and  the  material  removed  by  the  chisel,  but  this  is  not  easy 
if  the  groove  is  long.  Pieces  are  sometimes  clamped  beside  the 
line  to  guide  the  saw  and  sometimes  even  attached  to  the  saw 
itself,  or  to  a  piece  of  saw-blade.  The  lines  for  the  groove  can 
be  scored  with  the  knife  or  chisel  and  the  wood  between  removed 
by  the  chisel,  much  as  in  cutting  a  mortise. 

In  nice  work,  as  fitting  a  shelf  in  a  bookcase,  it  makes  a  better 


Tools  and  Operations 


399 


joint  not  to  fit  the  entire  end  of  the  shelf  into  a  groove,  but  to  cut 
a  tongue  or  wide  tenon  on  the  end  of  the  shelf,  with  a  shoulder  at 
each  side  and  the  front  edge,  to  fit  into  a  corresponding  groove, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  284. 

Half-Round  File.— See  File. 

Halving. — This  joint  shown  in  Fig.  537  is  a  common,  simple, 
and  good  way  of  joining  two  sticks  when  they  cross  at  right  angles 


FIG.  537.  FIG.  538. 

or  obliquely.     Place  the  sticks  in  position  and  mark  the  width  of 
each  upon  the  surface  of  the  other,  using  a  knife  or  chisel  for 


FIG.  539.  FIG.  540. 

scribing.     With  small  sticks  the  wood  can  be  removed  with  the 
knife,  first  cutting  a  notch  at  each  side  and  then  paring  off  the 


FIG.  541.  FIG.  542. 

wood  between  (Fig.  538).    With  large  pieces  the  lines  should  be 
marked  by  the  square,  the  depth  (one-half  the  thickness  of  either 


400          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


piece)  by  the  gauge.  The  lines  at  the  outside  of  the  space  can 
then  be  sawed  down  to  the  gauge  line,  taking  care  to  keep  just  on 
the  inside  edge  of  the  line.  The  wood  between  can  be  pared 
out  with  the  chisel  down  to  the  gauge  lines.  When  the  halving 
is  at  the  ends  of  the  pieces  or  at  the  end  of  one  piece  (Fig.  539), 


FIG.  543. 


FIG.  544. 


the  process  is  the  same,  except  that  the  wood  can  be  entirely  re- 
moved by  the  saw.  Other  forms  involving  bevelling  and  dove- 
tailing are  shown  in  Figs.  540,  541,  and  542.  This  principle  of 
the  lap  joint  is  often  carried  a  little  further  and  we  have  the  open 
mortise  and  tenon  (Fig.  543),  which  can  successfully  be  applied 
to  a  mitred  joint  and  can  also  be  dovetailed,  and  boxes  are  now 
made  by  machine  with  the  corners  entirely  made  up  of  a  con- 
tinuous series  of  these  joints  (Fig.  544).  See  Joints. 

Hammer. — The  hammer  is  made  in  many  forms,  but  the 
common  kind  used  by  carpenters  will  usually  answer  your  pur- 
pose, and  is  too  familiar  to  require  description.  For  general  use 
select  one  of  medium  size  and  weight.  Remember  that  the  face 
of  the  hammer-head,  although  harder  than  the  nails  it  is  meant 
to  drive,  is  not  intended  to  pound  every  piece  of  hardened  steel 
you  may  run  across,  nor  to  break  up  boulders  when  you  are  after 
minerals.  For  the  use  of  the  hammer  see  Nailing. 

Hand-Screws. — Hand-screws  are  of  great  use  in  clamping 
work  that  has  been  glued  and  for  holding  pieces  in  any  required 
position.  Wooden  hand-screws  are  probably  the  most  generally 
useful,  but  a  couple  (or  more)  of  the  simple  iron  clamps  will  be 
of  great  service  at  times,  as  they  can  be  used  more  advantageously 
than  the  wooden  ones  in  some  kinds  of  work.  Get  medium-sized 


Tools  and  Operations 


401 


hand-screws  rather  than  small  ones  if  you  can,  as  they  will  be 
generally  more  serviceable. 

To  open  or  close  a  hand-screw,  hold  it  at  arm's-length  in  front 
of  you  with  a  handle  in  each  hand,  and  with  a  twirling  motion  re- 
volve it  toward  or  from  you,  as  may  be  required,  to  increase  or 


FIG.  545. 


FIG.  546. 


FIG.  547. 


decrease  the  opening  between  the  jaws.  The  screws  should  be 
greased  or  rubbed  over  with  black-lead,  soap,  or  bayberry  tallow. 
To  hold  two  pieces  together  with  uniform  pressure  is  of  course 
necessary  for  gluing  and  various  other  operations,  but  a  little 
practice  will  show  you  how  to  adjust  the  hand-screws  so  that  the 
jaws  will  bear  on  the  wood  evenly.  The  main  point  to  remember 
is  to  keep  the  jaws  parallel.  The  final  tightening  is  given  entirely 
by  the  outer  screw,  so,  in  adjusting  the  screws,  leave  the  jaws 
open  a  little  at  the  tip  as  in  Fig.  545,  that  when  the  final  pressure 
is  put  upon  the  outer  screw  the  jaws  will  bear  on  the  wood  with 
an  even  pressure  (Fig.  546).  If  the  jaws  were  adjusted  to  bear 
evenly  before  tightening  the  outer  screw, 
the  final  result  would  be  as  shown  in  Fig. 

547- 

In  clamping  together  finished  work    or 
pieces  which  could  be  injured  by  the  pres- 
sure, always  put  pieces  of  waste  wood  be- 
tween the  work  and  the  hand-screws.     In  FIG.  548. 
case  of  delicate  work,  like  carving  or  mouldings,  a  piece  of  soft 

a6 


402          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

pine  placed  between  the  surface  and  the  hand-screws  or  clamps 
will  enable  considerable  pressure  to  be  applied  without  injury  to 
the  work. 

A  simple  home-made  clamp,  suitable  for  such  work  as  tempo- 
rarily holding  in  place  parts  of  the  frame  of  a  boat,  for  instance, 
is  shown  in  Fig.  548.  See  Clamps  and  also  Figs.  66  and  647. 

Hatchet. — The  hatchet  is  too  familiar  to  need  description. 
A  common,  medium-sized  hatchet,  that  can  easily  be  swung  with 
one  hand,  is  all  that  the  beginner  will  ordinarily  require,  although 
there  is  quite  a  variety  of  hatchets  and  axes  for  various  purposes. 

The  main  thing  in  the  use  of  the  hatchet,  besides  keeping  your 
fingers  out  of  the  way,  is  to  look  sharply  after  the  direction  of  the 
grain  of  the  wood,  as  it  is  not  easy  to  stop  a  blow  in  the  wrong 
place,  for  the  hatchet  is  not  so  easily  controlled  as  some  other 
tools.  Experience  is  the  best  teacher  in  the  use^  of  a  hatchet. 
For  removing  superfluous  wood  with  the  hatchet,  see  Paring. 

Hinges. — There  are  many  varieties  of  hinges  for  various  pur- 
poses. The  common  kind,  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  135,  had  best, 
for  neatness'  sake,  on  moderately  heavy  work,  be  narrower  than 
the  thickness  of  the  stock,  so  as  not  to  extend  across  the  edge. 
The  hinge  should  be  sunk  in  the  wood  of  one  or  both  of  the 
parts  to  be  hinged  —  in  the  case  of  many  boxes,  for  instance,  one 
half  of  the  hinge  when  shut  is  usually  sunk  in  each  part,  but  in 
some  kinds  of  work  the  whole  thickness  may  be  sunk  in  one  part. 
The  hinge  can  be  held  in  position  on  the  edge  (in  the  case  of 
the  box)  so  that  the  centre  of  the  pin  on  which  it  turns  is  in  line 
with  the  back  of  the  box,  or  sometimes  a  little  outside.  Marks 
can  be  made  with  the  knife  or  chisel  at  the  ends  of  the  hinge,  and 
the  recess  in  which  it  is  to  fit  marked  with  the  square  and  gauge. 
This  wood  should  be  removed  with  the  chisel,  first  making  cross 
cuts  to  break  up  the  grain,  as  in  Fig.  614.  Fit  the  other  hinge 
or  hinges  in  the  same  way.  Next  lay  the  lid  exactly  in  position 
on  top  of  the  hinges  and  mark  by  them  and  cut  the  recesses  in 
the  top  in  the  same  way.  Hold  the  hinges  in  place  with  two  or 


Tools  and  Operations  403 

three  screws  each  and  see  whether  the  cover  opens  and  shuts  as 
it  should.  Make  any  needed  alterations,  and  finally  screw  the 
hinges  firmly  in  place.  Another  way  is  to  place  the  lid  exactly  in 
position  (shut)  and  mark  directly  from  the  hinges,  on  both  box 
and  cover  at  the  same  time,  the  points  from  which  to  lay  out  the 
recesses.  It  will  be  well  to  look  at  a  properly  fitted  hinge  for  a 
similar  purpose  before  beginning  your  work,  since  one  rule  cannot 
be  laid  down  for  all  cases. 

For  strap-hinges,  T-hinges,  and  the  like,  see  page  247. 

Holes  and  Cracks,  To  Fill. — The  simplest  way  to  stop 
holes,  cracks,  checks,  and  the  like,  in  painted  work, is  with  putty, 
always  applying  it  after  the  first  coat  of  paint  and  never  before 
(pvt  Painting)  i  but  this  method  should  not  be  used  for  other  than 
painted  work,  and  the  nicer  the  work,  the  less  desirable  the  use 
of  putty  becomes. 

For  nice  work,  as  furniture,  which  has  not  been  finished,  small 
holes  or  cracks  are  often  stopped  by  putting  a  daub  of  hot  glue 
on  the  smooth  end  of  a  piece  of  wood  of  the  same  kind  as  the 
article,  and  with  a  sharp  chisel,  held  nearly  at  right  angles  with 
the  surface,  scraping  off  fine  wood-dust,  which,  mixing  with  the 
glue,  forms  a  paste  with  which  the  crack  can  be  more  than  filled. 
When  hard,  the  surplus  can  be  pared  and 
scraped  off. 

Plaster  of  Paris  (calcined  plaster),  mixed 
with  very  thin  hot  glue,  is  excellent  for  stopping 
cracks  and  holes  of  considerable  size.  It  can 
be  mixed  with  water  only,  but  this  is  not  as  good. 

Fitting  in  a  plug  of  wood  is  a  good  way  when 
the  hole  is  of  such  shape  that  you  can  do  so, 
making  the  grain  of  the  plug  run  the  same  way 
as  that  of  the  piece  to  be  plugged.     Taper  the 
plug  slightly,  so  that  when  driven  in  it  will  fit  tightly  and  not  be 
flush  with  the  surface,  but  project  above  it  (Fig.  549).     Dip  in  hot 
glue,  and  drive  well  in.     When  dry  smooth  off.     If  the  hole  is 


404          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


irregular,  trim  to  some  shape  to  which  you  can  fit  a  plug.  In 
nice  work  take  pains  to  have  the  plug  a  good  match  for  the  rest 
of  the  wood. 

Slight  cracks  at  the  end  of  a  piece  can  often  be  plugged  and 
at  the  same  time  secured  against  further  splitting  by  sawing 
directly  down  the  crack,  so  as  to  remove  it  and  substitute  a 
straight  saw-kerf.  In  this  kerf  a  slip  of  wood  can  be  fitted  and 
glued. 

Wax,  and  also  melted  shellac,  can  be  used  to  stop  holes  and 
cracks  in  finished  work.  For  this,  see  under  Finishing. 

Jack-Plane. — See  Plane. 
Jointer. — See  Plane. 

Jointing. — This  term  is  applied  to  the  act  of  straightening 
and  making  true  the  edges  of  two  boards  or  planks  which  are  to 

be  joined  to  make  a 
tight  joint,  with  glue  or 
otherwise.  It  is,  also, 
popularly  applied  t  o 
straightening  the  edge 
of  one  piece  only,  as 
to  "  joint  "  the  edge 
of  a  board.  This  you 
will  often  have  to  do, 
and  for  jointing  two 
edges  which  are  to  be 
glued  particular  care 
will  be  required.  As- 
suming that  the  edges 
have  been  got  ou  t 
nearly  straight,  t  he 

only  plane  you  will  require  is  the  fore-plane, — or  better,  the 
jointer,  or  even  the  "  long  "  jointer  if  the  piece  is  long  and 
you  are  fortunate  enough  to  have  these  tools, — and  it  should  be 
set  fine,  although  if  the  edge  is  very  crooked  and  you  have  to 


FIG.  550. 


Tools  and  Operations  405 

work  off  much  superfluous  stock,  the  iron  can  be  set  to  make  a 
coarse  shaving  at  first. 

In  shooting  or  jointing  edges  it  is  customary  to  hold  the  finger 
under  the  sole  of  the  plane  as  a  guide  (Fig.  550).  This  helps  in 
regard  to  the  common  fault  of  tipping  the  plane  sideways  so  as 
to  plane  off  more  on  one  side  than  on  the  other  (Fig.  551).  This 
trouble  may  be  aggravated  by  a  wrong  position  of 
the  left  hand  on  the  fore  part  of  the  plane  in  case 
you  use  a  wooden  plane  (see  Fig.  624  for  correct 
position).  Keep  testing  across  the  edge  with  the 
square  (Fig.  640).  The  shooting-board  can  be 
used  to  advantage  for  short  pieces  (see  Shooting- 
board},  and  attachable  guides  can  also  be  obtained. 

The  jointing  should  be  done  with  long,  de- 
liberate, steady  strokes.  Any  hasty,  hit-or-miss 
slashing  away  with  the  plane  will  be  sure  to  result 
in  a  bad  joint,  and  you  can  easily  get  the  edge  into  such  shape 
by  three  or  four  careless  strokes  that  it  will  take  you  a  good  while 
to  get  it  straight.  Try  also  to  avoid  planing  the  edge  rounding, 
from  end  to  end  (see  Plane,  Figs.  635-637).  Sight  along  the 
edge.  Also  test  with  straight-edge,  looking  toward  the  light.  If 
any  shines  through,  the  edge  is  not  yet  accurate  and  the  pro- 
cess must  be  resumed. 

If  you  are  jointing  two  edges,  as  for  a  "  glue-joint,"  first  ex- 
amine the  pieces  to  see  which  edges  will  best  go  together,  ac- 
cording to  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  intended.  Look  at 
the  end  grain  so  as  to  arrange  it  in  different  ways  if  you  are 
building  up  a  piece  of  selected  parts  (Fig.  559).  If  merely 
joining  two  or  more  boards  to  make  a  wider  one,  notice  the  way 
the  grain  runs  lengthways,  and  the  way  it  crops  up  to  the  surface, 
for  you  will  have,  for  everything  but  the  roughest  work,  to  plane 
the  surface  over  after  the  joint  is  glued,  and  if  the  grain  runs  in 
two  or  three  different  ways  it  will  be  harder  to  make  the  surface 
smooth.  There  are  cases,  however,  in  handsomely  figured 
wood,  as  quartered  oak  or  mahogany,  where  you  will  arrange 


406          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


the  grain  in  the  way  that  will  look  the  best,  but  in  such  cases  you 
expect  to  go  through  extra  labour  for  the  sake  of  having  the 
article  as  handsome  as  possible.  With  soft,  straight-grained 
white  pine  or  whitewood,  these  matters  are  of  less  importance. 
When  you  have  the  pieces  laid  together  in  the  best  way,  mark  on 
the  surface  right  across  the  joints  (Fig.  552)  so  that  you  will 
know  how  to  put  the  pieces  together,  for  you  will  forget  how  they 
were  arranged  after  you  have  moved  them  around  a  few  times. 
Joint  each  edge  separately.  For  nice  work  it  is  well  to  joint 


WRONG. 


FIG.  552. 


FIG.  553. 


the  edges  of  the  successive  pieces  alternately  from  opposite  sides, 
— that  is,  if  in  planing  the  edge  of  the  first  piece  the  marked  (or 
face)  side  of  the  board  is  tou>ards  you,  plane  the  edge  of  the  next 
piece  with  the  face  side  of  the  board  against  the  bench,  or  away 
from  you.  This  helps  to  counteract  the  result  of  any  tendency 
to  tip  the  plane  to  one  side  or  any  inaccuracy  in  setting  the 
plane-iron.  See  Shooting-board, 

Then,  putting  one  piece  in  the  vice  with  the  jointed  edge  up- 
wards, lay  the  other  edge  upon  it  in  the  proper  position  and  see 
if  the  two  edges  touch  throughout.  If  not,  one  or  both  must  be 
planed  with  thin,  careful  strokes  until  they  do  fit,  for  the  joint 
will  not  be  good  unless  the  edges  coincide.  Remember,  how- 
ever, that  it  takes  more  than  merely  touching  to  make  a  good 
joint.  The  surfaces  of  the  boards  must  be  in  line  (in  the  same 
plane).  Of  course  this  really  depends  upon  the  edges  being 
square.  Test  by  holding  a  straight-edge,  the  square,  the  edge 


Tools  and  Operations  407 

of  the  plane,  or  anything  straight,  against  the  surface  of  the 
boards  (Fig.  553).' 

Do  not  be  misled  by  the  directions  you  may  see  in  "amateur  " 
books  and  magazine  articles  which  tell  you,  for  cases  like  this, — 
when  you  wish  to  glue  up  the  lid  of  a  desk,  for  instance, — to  plane 
and  sandpaper  your  boards  carefully  on  the  sides  and  then  fit  the 
edges  together,  after  which  you  "  have  only  to  glue  the  edges  and 
the  job  is  done."  That  is  not  the  right  way  to  make  a  glued 
joint,  as  you  will  find  out  for  yourself  after  you  have  planed  a 
few  dozen  boards  the  second  time.  The  skilled  workman  seldom 
attempts  to  do  this  except  in  repairing  or  some  case  where  the 
surface  of  the  pieces  must  be  preserved.  The  practical  work- 
man's way  (which  is  the  way  for  you),  is  to  glue  first  and  plane 
afterwards.  The  best  way,  practically,  is  to  glue  up  the  rough 
boards  before  they  have  been  planed  at  all,  and  then  have  the 
whole  planed  down  as  one  piece  by  machine  to  the  required 
thickness.  Of  course  you  should  get  the  surfaces  as  nearly  in  line 
as  you  can,  to  avoid  needless  planing  afterwards,  but  give  your 
special  attention  to  making  the  joint  hold  (see  note  under 
Clamps). 

Sometimes  the  edges  of  boards  to  be  glued  are  purposely 
planed,  hollowing  lengthways,  so  that  the  two  pieces  touch  at  the 
ends,  but  do  not  quite  come  together  in  the  middle,  the  idea 
being  that  a  clamp  at  the  middle  will  force  the  joint  together  for 
its  whole  length  and  will  give  a  stronger  result  than  to  attempt  to 
make  both  edges  exactly  straight.  If  there  is  to  be  any  open 
place  in  the  joint  before  gluing,  it  is  better  to  have  it  at  the 
middle  than  at  the  ends,  but  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as 

1  It  may  be  useful  to  know,  although  not  suitable  work  for  the  beginner,  that 
there  is  no  better  way  to  joint  edges  (to  make  glued  joints,  as  in  Fig.  552)  than 
with  a  first-class  circular  saw,  run  by  one  who  knows  how  to  use  it.  The 
minute  roughnesses  left  by  the  saw  assist  the  glue  to  hold,  and  as  inconspicuous 
and  strong  joints  as  possible  can  be  quickly  produced  in  this  way  by  a  good 
workman  with  a  first-class  saw,  but  do  not  expect  a  satisfactory  result  except 
under  these  conditions. 


408          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


to  whether  there  is  any  advantage  in  springing  boards  to  fit  in 
this  way. 

Before  gluing  hardwood  edges,  it  is  well  to  tooth  them  over 
with  the  toothed-plane,  if  you  have  one.  (See  Plane.} 

See  Plane,  Gluing,  Joints,  C leafing,  Dowelling,  etc. 

Joints  and  Splices. — There  are  many  kinds  of  splices  and 
joints  used  in  the  different  branches  of 
woodwork,  a  few  of  which  are  here  given. 

The  common  square  butt-joint  (Fig. 
554)  is  the  simplest  way  to  join  two  pieces 
at  right  angles,  as  in  making  a  box  or 
frame,  and  is  used  for  all  common  work. 
Glue  is  of  but  little  use  with  this  joint. 
Rely  wholly  on  nails  or  screws. 

To  make  a  better  joint,  cut  a  rabbet  at 
the  end  of  one  piece  and  you  have  a  joint 
(Fig.  555)  which  shows  less  end  wood,  and 
can  be  helped  a  good  deal  by  gluing,  on 
account  of  the  shoulder. 

Another  way  is  shown  in  Fig.  556. 
Some  strength  and  stiffness  is  gained  by 
the  tongue  and  groove,  but  a  groove  near 
the  end  introduces  an  element  of  weakness. 

A  much  stronger  way  and  a  tighter  joint 
(Fig.  557)  is  often  used  for  cisterns,  water- 
tanks,  and  horse  troughs,  but  the  project- 
ing ends  are  objectionable  for  most 
purposes.  See  Halving,  Mitring,  Dovetail- 
ing, and  also  Box-making,  page  219. 

In  nailing  any  sucli  joints  as  those  just 

shown,  remember  to  always  bore  holes  for  the  nails  wherever 
there  is  danger  of  splitting.  See  Awl,  Bits,  Boring,  Nailing. 

There  are  many  ways,  besides  those  just  mentioned,  for  join- 
ing sticks  and  timbers  at  right  angles,  which  is  something  you 


FIG,  557. 


Tools  and  Operations  409 

will  often  have  to  do,  whether  for  a  kite  or  some  small  framework 
or  for  the  timbers  of  a  building. 

To  join  two  or  more  boards  or  planks  to  make  a  wider  surface, 
several  methods  can  be  used.  Cleating,  though  strong  and  suit- 
able for  all  such  work  as  drawing-boards,  rough  doors,  and  the 
like,  is  often  undesirable,  both  on  account  of  the  looks  and  be- 
cause the  cleats  may  be  in  the  way  (see  Cleating].  The  simplest 
way,  without  cleats,  is  to  glue  the  jointed  edges  (see  Jointing 
and  Gluing).  Dowels  can  be  used  with  this  joint  (see  Dowel- 


.  558.  FIG.  559. 

ling),  or  grooves  can  be  cut  and  a  strip  or  spline  or  tongue  in- 
serted (Fig.  558).  This  last  way  can  be  done  at  the  mill  quicker 
and  better  than  by  hand.  The  edges  can  also  be  halved,  or  a 
rabbet  cut  in  each  edge  from  opposite  sides.  The  boards 
can  also  be  "  matched  "  (see  page  46),  in  which  case  it  is  not 
usual  to  glue  them.  All  of  these  joints  can  best  be  made  by 
machine. 

To  avoid  the  warping  and  change  of  shape  to  which  wide  pieces 
are  subject,  particularly  when  they  are  not  middle  boards  (see 
Chapter  III.),  they  are  often  built  up  of  selected  narrower  pieces 
(Fig.  559).  This  is  done  for  many  things, —  the  frames  of  ma- 
chines, the  tops  of  sewing-tables,  drawing-boards,  chopping- 
blocks,  etc.  Masts,  bows,  fishing-rods,  and  the  like  are  sometimes 
built  up  of  selected  pieces,  the  idea  being  that  a  better  result  can 
be  obtained  by  combining  selected  smaller  pieces,  that  flaws  and 
defects  (which  are  apt  to  occur  in  larger  pieces)  can  be  avoided, 
and  that  sometimes  the  grain  can  be  arranged  to  better  advan- 
tage. This  is  doubtless  true,  but  there  is  always  the  objection 
that  glued  joints  may  give  way.  If  you  can  get  a  piece  which 
is  practically  perfect,  it  is  probably  in  most  cases  better  than  a 
glued-up  combination,  for  it  is  not  easy  to  improve  on  Nature 


Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

when  you  can  get  her  best  specimens  ;  but  unless  you  can  get 
first-class  stock  of  the  dimensions  required,  it  is  better  to  "  build 
up  "  with  smaller  pieces  of  selected  stock. 

Where  the  ends  of  two  pieces  come  together  and  you  wish  to 
make  a  close  joint,  you  will,  of  course,  saw  the  pieces  off  as 
squarely  as  possible,  using  the  square  or  perhaps  the  mitre-box. 
If  you  mark  and  saw  them  with  exactness,  and  if  everything 
about  their  arrangement  is  straight  and  square  and  true,  the  ends 
will  come  together  exactly  and  make  a  close  joint,  but  as  a  prac- 


FIG.  560.  FIG.  561. 

tical  matter  this  frequently  will  not  happen,  however  careful  you 
may  be.  For  nice  work,  the  workmanlike  way  in  such  cases  is 
to  plane  or  pare  the  ends  until  they  fit,  but  for  rougher  work  the 
expedient  of  sawing  the  ends  to  fit  can  be  resorted  to.  To  do 
this,  put  the  ends  together  as  they  are  to  go  (Fig.  560),  keep 
them  from  moving,  and  saw  straight  down  through  the  joint.  As 
the  saw  will  leave  a  kerf  of  uniform  thickness,  the  pieces  can 
now  be  pushed  together  and  the  ends  will  fit,  unless  the  joint 
was  very  much  open,  in  which  case  you  have  only  to  saw  again, 
and  if  necessary  repeat  the  operation  until  the  ends  fit.  This  is 
a  very  useful  expedient  in  case  of  need,  but  should  not  be  relied 
on  as  a  regular  way  to  make  joints,  lest  it  engender  a  careless 
and  inaccurate  method  of  work.  This  applies  also  to  joints 
which  meet  at  any  angle. 

In  some  cases,  where  only  one  side  of  each  piece  shows,  as  in 
laying  floor-boards,  it  is  usual  to  undercut  the  ends  slightly — that 
is,  to  make  the  joint  a  little  open  at  the  bottom,  which  gives  a 
tight  and  neat  joint  on  the  side  which  shows  (Fig.  561,  which  is 
exaggerated). 

Another  way  to  make  an  end  joint  is  by  bevelled  scarfing  or 
splaying  (Fig.  562)..  You  will  see  the  ends  of  the  clapboards  on 


Tools  and  Operations 


411 


old  houses  joined  in  this  way,  and  it  doubtless  makes  a  better 
joint  in  many  cases  than  the  common  square  or  butt-joint,  but 
it  is  more  work.  Strips  of  moulding  are  often  cut  in  this  way. 

There  are  many  ways  of  splicing  two  or  more  pieces  so  as  to 
get  greater  length,  many  of  them,  such  as  are  used  in  bridge- 
building  and  roof-framing,  being  quite  complicated.  You  will 
rarely,  however,  in  such  work  as  you  will  do  at  first,  have  occa- 
sion to  do  more  than  nail  strips  (fish-plates)  on  the  sides  of  the 


FIG.  562. 


FIG.  563. 


FIG.  564. 


pieces  or  make  a  halved  splice  or  scarfed  joint  (Fig.  563).  The 
latter  is  often  made  longer  than  that  shown  and  fastened  in 
various  ways.  A  joint  for  a  brace  is  shown  in  Fig.  564. 

See  Cleats,  Doors,  Dovetailing,  Dowelling,  Gluing;  Halving, 
Mitring,  Mortising,  Nailing,  etc. 

Keyhole  Saw. — See  Saw. 

Knife. — An  excellent  knife  for  shop  work  is  a  sloyd  knife.  A 
good  shoe-knife  will  do  very  well.  This  is  better  for  shop  work 
than  a  jack-knife.  It  will  not  close  on  your  fingers  for  one  thing. 
For  general  purposes,  however,  a  pocket-knife  is  the  best  thing, 
as  you  cannot  carry  a  sloyd  knife  around  with  you.  In  buying 
it  get  a  good  plain  knife  with  not  more  than  two  or  three  blades 
and  of  the  best  steel  you  can  nfford.  Do  not  waste  money  in 
trying  to  get  your  whole  kit  of  tools  into  the  compass  of  one  jack- 


412          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

knife  handle.  In  selecting  a  knife,  open  the  blades  and  sight 
along  the  back  to  see  that  each  blade  is  accurately  in  line  with 
the  handle,  as  they  are  sometimes  fastened  at  a  slight  angle, 
which  weakens  the  knife. 

An  immense  variety  of  work  can  be  done  with  a  common 
pocket-  or  jack-knife,  which  is  the  best  emergency  tool  for  either 
the  beginner  or  the  skilled  workman.  One  great  thing  about 
whittling  is  that  you  cannot  rely  on  squares,  rules,  or  compasses 
to  get  your  work  right,  but  must  be  independent,  think  quickly, 
look  sharply,  and  rely  on  your  own  faculties.  A  knife  is  so  easy 
to  sharpen  that  there  is  not  much  excuse  for  using  a  dull  one. 
See  Sharpening. 

In  cutting,  always  keep  your  left  hand  behind  the  blade,  and 
as  a  general  rule  cut  from  you,  for  the  tool  may  slip  and  cut  you 
instead  of  the  wood.  There  are  cases  where  you  have  to  cut  to- 
wards you,  but  there  is  never  any  need  of  getting  your  left  hand 
in  front  of  the  cutting-edge. 

Level. — A  spirit-level  is  important  for  some  work,  but  not 
often  necessary  for  the  beginner,  as  a  substitute  can  easily  be 
made.  A  horizontal  or  level  line  being  at  right  angles  with  a 
vertical  line,  a  home-made  level  can  be  made  by  using  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  plumb-line,  as  shown  on  page  96.  When  the  plumb- 
line  hangs  freely  on  the  line  ab,  which  is  at  right  angles  to  cd, 
the  latter  line  (cd}  must  of  course  be  level.  The  frame  should  be 
several  feet  long  for  levelling  large  work,  as  it  can  be  adjusted 
more  accurately  than  if  small. 

Linseed  Oil. — See  Finishing  and  Painting. 

Locks. — Use  locks  of  good  quality  or  none  at  all.  Never  put 
very  cheap  locks  on  good  work.  There  are  many  varieties  of 
locks,  some  to  be  screwed  on  the  outside  of  the  wood,  others  to 
be  sunk  in  recesses  cut  in  the  side  of  the  wood,  others  still  to 
be  let  into  mortises  —  chest-locks,  door-locks,  cupboard-locks, 
drawer-locks,  etc. 

To  fit  a  chest-  or  box-lock  (not  a  mortise-lock),  place  the  lock 


Tools  and  Operations  413 

in  the  right  position,  mark  around  the  part  required  to  be  sunk 
in  the  wood,  which  can  be  cut  away  with  gouge  and  chisel,  the 
keyhole  having  been  bored  quite  through  the  wood  and  trimmed 
to  a  neat  outline  which  will  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  key. 
When  the  lock  has  been  screwed  in  its  recess,  put  the  "  hasp," 
or  part  which  is  to  be  on  the  lid,  into  its  place  in  the  lock,  just 
where  it  will  be  when  the  chest  is  locked.  Then  close  the  lid, 
and  by  slightly  pressing  you  can  make  a  mark  on  it  to  show 
where  to  put  the  hasp.  Sometimes  you  can  mark  the  place 
with  a  pencil,  or  by  putting  transfer-paper  between  the  hasp  and 
the  wood,  or  by  rubbing  blackened  grease  on  the  plate  of  the 
hasp.  The  plate  of  the  hasp  should  be  sunk  in  the  lid  to  be 
flush  with  the  surface,  and  may  then  be  screwed  on,  bearing  in 
mind  the  thickness  of  the  lid  when  selecting  the  screws.  A 
mortise-lock  is  fitted  in  a  similar  way,  but  let  into  a  mortise  (see 
Mortising} . 

To  fit  a  common  drawer-lock,  determine  the  place  for  the 
keyhole  and  place  the  lock  in  position  on  the  inside  as  before. 
With  a  pencil  mark  the  outline  of  the  box-part  of  the  lock, 
which  bears  against  the  wood.  Cut  away  the  wood  within  this 
line,  making  a  recess  slightly  deeper  than  the  thickness  of 
the  box-part  of  the  lock.  The  hole  must  be  bored  for  the  key, 
as  before.  Put  the  lock  into  place  and  mark  the  outline  of  the 
outer  plate,  not  merely  on  the  inside  of  the  drawer  front  but  also 
on  the  top  edge.  Cut  away  the  wood  with  the  chisel  to  let  the 
plate  sink  flush  with  the  wood.  When  the  keyhole  is  shaped,  try 
the  lock  and  if  it  works,  screw  it  on.  Close  the  drawer  and  turn  the 
key  hard  to  raise  the  bolts  (the  tops  of  which  have  been  previously 
rubbed  with  blackened  grease,  such  as  can  be  scraped 
from  an  oilstone,  or  using  transfer  paper),  which,  pressing 
against  the  wood,  will  mark  the  places  for  the  mortises  into 
which  they  are  to  slide.  Cut  these  mortises  and  the  drawer  can 
be  locked. 

The  variety  of  locks  and  their  arrangement  in  regard  to  fitting 
is  so  great  that  it  will  be  best  for  you  to  examine  a  well-fitted 


414          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


lock  for  the  same  purpose  that  the  lock  you  have  to  fit  is  intended, 
for  one  rule  cannot  be  given  for  all  cases. 

Mallet. — The  mallet,  which  is  merely  a  hammer  with  a  wooden 
head,  is  made  in  various  forms  and  sizes,  from  the  big  beetle  of 
the  wood-chopper  to  the  ladies'  carving  mallet.  It  is  used  to 
strike  the  wooden  tool-handles. 

For  heavy  work  a  mallet  with  the  handle  put  through  the  head 
from  the  outside,  like  the  handle  of  a  pickaxe,  is  good  because 
the  head  cannot  come  off.  A  rounded  head  with  the  handle  on 
the  end  (like  a  potato-;masher)  saves  having  to  notice  how  you 
hold  it,  as  it  is  equally  effective  in  any  position.  A  mallet  of 
this  type  can  be  turned  all  in  one  piece.  Hickory  or  lignum- 
vitae  or  any  dense,  hard  wood  is  good  for  a  mallet. 

You  do  not  gain  force  by  using  the  mallet  instead  of  the  ham- 
mer, but  the  softer  and  more  yielding  blow  of  the  mallet  saves 
the  tool-handle. 

Marking. — For  all  rough  work  the  ordinary  carpenter's  pencil, 
sharpened  flatways,  like  a  screw-driver,  is  the  most  convenient 
and  durable  instrument.  For  nicer  work,  where  you  need  more 
accurate  lines,  the  common  round  pencil  (medium  hard  or  rather 

soft)  is  all  you  need,  but  for 
nice,  close  work  (such  as  mark- 
ing accurate  joints),  a  knife, 
the  corner  of  a  chisel,  a  mak- 
ing-awl, or  a  scriber  of  some  sort 
is  necessary.  There  is  no  need 
to  buy  any  tool  for  this, 
although  they  are  to  be  had  — 
nothing  is  better  than  a  com- 
mon pocket-knife  or  a  chisel. 
Keep  your  pencils  sharp  by 
_.  6  rubbing  them  on  a  piece  of 

fine  sandpaper,  or  an  old  file. 
In  scribing  with  the  chisel,  the  edge  is  drawn  along  with  one 


Tools  and  Operations  415 

corner  slightly  raised  and  the  flat  side  next  the  straight-edge, 
holding  the  tool  either  like  a  pencil  or  for  deeper  scoring  as  in 

Fig-  565- 

In  all  marking  and  scribing,  whether  with  pencil,  awl,  knife, 
chisel,  or  other  tool,  be  sure  that  the  marking  edge  is  kept  close 
up  to  the  rule,  straight-edge,  or  square,  as  it  will  often  tend  to 
follow  the  grain  of  the  wood  and  run  off  the  line,  and  will  some- 
times force  the  straight-edge  or  square  out  of  position  if  the  latter 
is  not  held  firmly. 

Do  not  try  to  stop  lines  which  meet  at  a  given  point,  but  let 
them  cross  one  another  when  they  will  not  show  in  the  finished 
work,  as  it  is  quicker  to  do  so  and  the  crossing  of  two  lines 
marks  a  point  more  accurately  than  a  dot.  For  work  to  be 
finished,  however,  scoring  the  surface  with  lines  should  be 
avoided  wherever  they  will  show,  as  they  will  become  con- 
spicuous after  the  work  is  finished. 

In  marking  lines  with  a,  straight-edge  or  ruler  you  must  be  care- 
ful that  it  does  not  slip.  If  it  is  long  you  can  put  weights  on  it. 
To  mark  a  line  accurately  through  given  points,  the  ruler  should 
not  quite  touch  the  points,  but  be  pushed  almost  up  to  them  and 
equally  distant  from  each  (Fig.  566).  This  will  give  you  a  clear 
view  of  both  points  so  that 
you  can  be  sure  that  the 
pencil  or  whatever  you 

..,.,.  ,  THIN  RULE — FINE  WORK, 

mark  with  will  go  as  nearly 
as  possible  through  the 
centre  of  each.  Bearing 
the  pencil  against  the  edge 
of  the  ruler,  you  can  slant 
it  a  trifle  till  the  pencil-  THICK  RULE-ROUGH  WORK. 

....  .  ,       .  ,  FIG.  567. 

point  will  just  coincide  with 

the  given  point  on  the  wood,  and,  keeping  the  same  inclination, 
move  the  pencil  along  the  ruler,  and  it  should  also  go  through  the 
second  given  point.  This  applies  to  a  regular  ruler  with  a  com- 
paratively thin  edge,  and  to  fine  work  only.  In  marking  by  a 


416          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

thick  edge,  or  where  extreme  nicety  is  not  required,  you  will  of 
course  put  the  straight-edge  right  up  to  the  points  and  run  the 
pencil-point  along  in  the  angle  (Fig.  567). 

Besides  marking  lines,  the  straight-edge  (in  some  form),  is  used 
to  determine  whether  a  surface  is  true.  See  Straight-edge. 

For  rough,  off-hand  marking,  particularly  on  undressed  stock, 
chalk  is  often  best.  Sticks,  shaped  like  school-crayons,  of 
graphite  or  some  black  composition,  are  good  for  rough  marking. 

The  chalk-line  is  used  for  distances  too  great  to  Be  covered 
conveniently  by  a  straight-edge  and  in  places  where  the  latter 
could  not  so  well  be  used.  The  chalk-line  is  a  chalked  cord 
drawn  taut  between  the  two  points  to  be  connected.  :s  better 
to  use  a  small  cord  than  a  large  one,  and  blue  chalk  is  often  pre- 
ferred to  white.  Fasten  one  end  of  the  cord  with  a  loop  around 
an  awl  or  nail  at  one  end  of  the  desired  line,  and  from  this  point 
chalk  the  cord,  holding  it  between  the  thumb  and  the  chalk  so 
that  the  cord  will  bear  on  the  flat  side  of  the  chalk  in  such  a  way 
as  to  wear  it  away  evenly  without  cutting  it  in  two.  Then 
draw  the  chalked  cord  tight  to  the  other  end  of  the  desired  line 
and,  holding  the  end  down  with  one  hand,  lift  the  cord  from  as 
near  the  middle  as  practicable  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of 
the  other  hand  and  let  it  snap  back  on  to  the  surface.  The  cord 
should  be  raised  squarely  from  the  work  and  not  pulled  slantingly 
to  one  side  or  the  line  will  not  be  straight. 

Marking-Awl.— See  Awl. 
Marking-Gauge. — See  Gauge. 
Matching-Plane. — See  Plane. 

Measurements  and  Measuring. — For  various  suggestions, 
see  Rule,  and  also  pages  47,  48,  50,  167  (footnote),  244,  and  261. 

Mirror-Plates. — A  good  way  to  fasten  such  articles  as  mir- 
rors, cabinets,  etc.,  to  the  wall  is  by  mirror-plates,  which  you  can 
buy  or  make  yourself  of  brass.  These  should  be  sunk  in  the 
wood  so  as  to  be  flush  with  the  back  side  of  the  shelves.  After 


Tools  and  Operations 


being  fitted,  they  should  be  taken  off  during  the  process  of  fin- 
ishing the  work. 

Mitre. — See  Mitring. 

Mitre-Board. — See  Mitring  and  also  page  92. 

Mitre-Box. — If  you  can  afford  it,  an  iron  mitre-box  which 
will  cut  at  various  angles  will  be  very  useful.  You  can  make  one 
yourself  of  wood.  You  can  get  a  carpenter  to  make  you  one  for 
a  small  sum,  but  the  iron  ones  are  better.  See  page  90. 

Mitre  Shooting-Board.— See  page  94. 

Mitring. — A  common  joint  is  the  mitre  (Fig.  568).  Its  only 
advantage  is  that  it  shows  nothing  but  a  line  at  the  angle  and  the 
"  end  wood  "  is  entirely  concealed.  It  is  a  weak  joint  at  best, 
even  when  made  by  a  skilled  workman,  and  is  particularly  hard 
for  an  amateur  to  make  well.  The  slightest  variation  in  one  of 
the  corners  of  a  frame  or  box  throws  the  whole  structure  out  of 
shape  and  in  attempting  to  correct  the  error  the  other  joints  are 
apt  to  be  opened,  and  if  the  whole  is  finally  got  together  in  a 


FIG.  568. 


FIG.  569. 


FIG.  570. 


fashion   it  is  often   after  bother  enough  to  have  accomplished 
much  good  work  in  some  other  way. 

The  mitre  is  particularly  unscientific  for  wide  pieces  used  flat- 
ways (Fig.  569),  as  the  inevitable  expansion  and  contraction  of 
the  pieces  is  very  apt  to  cause  an  open  joint.  If  the  wood  is  not 
quite  di^,  so  that  it  shrinks,  the  joint  may  open  permanently  to- 
ward the  inside  corner,  for  when  the  wood  shrinks  in  width  the 

pieces  will  become  narrower  and  so  separate  at  the  joint,  leaving 
27 


418          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

a  crack,  tapering  from  the  inner  to  the  outer  corner.  Even  if  the 
wood  is  thoroughly  seasoned  it  will  expand  and  contract  more 
or  less.  When  it  expands,  the  joint  will  tend  to  open  at  the 
outer  corner  (Fig.  570).  When  it  contracts  it  will  tend  to 
open,  as  just  shown  (Fig.  571),  at  the  inner  corner. 

Of  course  there  are  some  cases,  as  in  making  a  picture  frame 
of  prepared  "  mouldings,"  when  mitring  is  the  only  way  in  which 
the  frame  can  be  put  together,  and  there  are  some  other  cases  in 


FIG.  571. 


FIG.  572. 


FIG.  573- 


which  it  is  the  most  proper  and  suitable  joint,  but  as  a  general 
rule,  for  amateur  work,  particularly  in  framing  where  strength 
is  a  consideration,  avoid  the  mitre.  Other  and  better  forms  for 
anything  like  a  box  are  shown  in  Figs.  554,  555,  556,  557. 

The  mitre  is  sometimes  strengthened  for  box  work  and  the  like 
by  fitting  a  spline  or  tongue  with  the  grain  running  across  and 
not  lengthways  of  the  joint  (Fig.  572.)  This,  properly  glued 
under  pressure,  makes  a  good  joint  and  one  much  superior  to  the 
plain  mitre.  But,  though  easy  to  do  with  machinery,  it  is  a  slow 
and  careful  job  to  make  such  a  joint  by  hand,  and  if  a  case  arises 
where  you  wish  it  done  you  had  best  take  the  work  to  a  factory, 
where  a  circular  saw  is  all  that  is  needed. 

The  principle  of  halving  shown  in  Figs.  539  and  543,  can  also 
be  applied  to  a  mitred  joint. 

Saw-kerfs  are  often  made  (Figs.  573  and  574)  into  which  small 


Tools  and  Operations 


419 


strips  are  tightly  fitted  and  glued.  This  is  a  good  way  and  easily 
done,  once  having  got  the  mitre  properly  put  together.  A  com- 
bination of  the  mitre  with  the  joint  shown  in  Fig.  555  is  shown 
in  Fig.  575.  See  also  Dovetailing  and  Joints. 

To  lay  off  a  mitre,  or  the  lines  by  which  to  cut  the  intersection 
of  any  two  pieces  at  any  angle,  a  simple  way  is  that  shown  in  Fig. 
576.  The  pieces  are  laid  one  above  the  other  at  the  desired 
angle.  Then  the  points  of  intersection  are  marked  on  each  edge. 


FIG.  575- 


FIG.  574. 


FIG.  576. 


Lines  connecting  these  points  will  give  the  desired  angles  for 
sawing.  The  square  can  be  used  to  help  in  determining  the 
points  accurately  and  to  project  them  to  the  upper  side  of  the 
top  piece. 

Mortise  and  Tenon. — See  Mortising. 
Mortise-Chisel. — See  Chisel. 
Mortise -Gauge. — See  Gauge. 

Mortising  (Mortise  and  Tenon). — If  you  can  get  out  two 

pieces  and  fit  them  together  accurately  with  a  mortise-and-tenon 
joint,  and  do  the  work  well,  you  will  be  competent  to  handle  a 
great  many  of  the  difficulties  of  ordinary  woodwork. 


420          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


You  will  often  have  occasion  to  use  this  joint.  The  mortise  is 
the  hole  in  one  of  the  two  pieces  to  be  joined.  The  tenon  is  the 
pin  or  projection  in  the  other  piece,  shaped  to  fit  the  mortise. 

To  lay  out  a  mortise  and  tenon  (Fig.  577),  select  and  mark  the 
working  faces  for  each  piece.  First  take  the  piece  in  which  the 
mortise  is  to  be  cut  (Fig.  578).  Square  two  lines,  ab  and  cd, 
across  the  face  and  the  same  distance  apart  as  the  width  of  the 
piece  on  which  the  tenon  is  to  be  cut.  Carry  these  lines  across 


FIG.  577. 


FIG.  579. 


the  side  X  (ae  and  cf)  and  also  across  the  side  opposite  to  X 
(that  is,  the  side  where  the  tenon  will  come  through). 

Next  take  the  tenon-piece  (Fig.  579)  and  measure  from  the 
end  a  distance  a  little  greater  than  the  width  of  the  face  of  the 
mortise-piece,  and  at  this  point  square  a  line,  gh,  across  the  face 
of  the  tenon-piece.  Continue  this  line,  gt\  around  the  piece,  with 
the  square. 

Now  take  the  gauge  and,  setting  it  at  the  distance  from  the 
face  settled  upon  for  the  mortise,  scribe  the  line  jk  on  the 
side  X  and  also  on  the  side  opposite  X .  Also  from  the  face  of 
the  tenon-piece,  without  changing  the  gauge,  mark  the  line  Im  on 
the  side  X,  on  the  opposite  side,  and  on  the  end.  Set  the  gauge 


Tools  and  Operations  421 

to  measure  from  the  face  to  the  other  side  of  the  mortise, —  that 
is,  add  the  width  of  the  mortise  to  the  figure  at  which  the  gauge 
was  set, — and  scribe  another  set  of  lines,  op  and  rs,  in  the  same 
manner  as  before,  remembering  to  gauge  all  the  time  from  the 
same  face. 

In  the  coarser  kinds  of  work,  where  marks  on  the  surface  do 
no  harm,  the  gauge  marks  can  be  run  across  the  other  lines,  as 
being  easier  and  more  distinct,  but  in  fine  work,  especially  that 
which  is  to  be  finished,  care  should  be  taken  not  to  make  scratches 
that  will  be  seen  when  the  work  is  finished.  The  parts  to  be  cut 
away  are  indicated  by  cross  marks  (Fig.  580)  and  it  will  be  seen 
at  once  that  the  tenon  and  mortise  are  laid  out  correctly. 

To  cut,  take  first  the  mortise-piece  and  fasten  it  securely  by 
vise  or   clamp    in    a   convenient  position. 
The  simplest  way  to  remove  the  wood  is  to 
bore  a  series  of  holes  with  a  bit  of  a  diam- 
eter as  nearly  the  width  of  the  mortise  as  FIG.  580. 
you  have  (Fig.   580),  but  a  trifle  smaller. 

This  removes  a  large  part  of  the  wood  with  but  slight  danger  of 
splitting.  The  rest  can  easily  be  trimmed  away  to  the  lines  with 
the  chisel,  taking  care  not  to  jam  the  chisel  down  lengthways  of 
the  mortise  when  the  latter  is  blocked  with  chips  or  firm  wood, 
or  the  wood  may  split  off  at  the  side  of  the  mortise. 

To  cut  out  the  wood  with  the  chisel  only  (or  to  trim  the  ends 
of  the  mortise  after  using  the  bit),  bear  in  mind  the  way  the  chisel 
acts  when  you  drive  it  into  the  wood.  If  both  sides  of  the 
chisel  were  bevelled  (as  is  the  case  with  carving  chisels),  it 
would  tend  to  go  straight  down  into  the  wood,  and  if  held  verti- 
cally would  make  a  vertical  cut  (Fig.  581),  but  the  chisels  you 
use  for  mortising  are  flat  on  one  side  and  bevelled  on  the  other. 
Being  one-sided  in  this  way,  the  edge  of  the  tool  is  forced  by 
the  inclined  bevel  to  slide  off,  so  to  speak,  more  or  less,  in  the 
direction  of  the  side  which  is  flat.  You  can  prove  this  easily 
by  holding  a  chisel  across  the  grain  of  a  board  and  driving  it 
in.  If  you  hold  the  tool  lightly,  you  will  see  that  as  you  drive 


422          Wood- Working  for  Beginrrers 


it  in  it  will  incline  to  cut  under,  always  on  the  side  which  is 
flat  (Fig.  581). 

This  shows  how  to  go  to  work  to  cut  a  mortise  so  as  to  keep 
the  sides  square  and  true.  If  you  put  the  chisel  at  the  end,  flat 
side  outward,  the  cut  will  tend  to  run  under  and  make  the  hole 


FIG.  581. 


FIG.  582. 


too  large  below  the  surface.  If  you  turn  the  tool  the  other  way, 
it  tends  to  slip  in  towards  the  middle  of  the  mortise.  So,  to  cut 
out  the  wood,  take  a  chisel  just  a  trifle  less  in  width  than  the 
mortise,  and,  beginning  near  the  middle  of  the  mortise,  hold  the 
chisel  as  in  Fig.  582  and  make  successive  cuts,  working  toward 
the  end,  first  in  one  direction  and  then  in  the  other,  giving  the 
chisel  handle  a  slight  pull  toward  the  centre  of  the  mortise  each 
time  you  move  it,  to  loosen  the  chips  (Fig.  583).  You  can  thus 
work  safely  toward  the  ends,  which  will  be  left  slanting  (Fig.  584). 
After  cutting  about  half  through  the  piece  in  this  way,  turn  it 
over  and  repeat  the  process  from  the  other  side,  the  result  being 


FIG.  584. 


FIG.  585. 


a  hole  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  585.  Now  turn  the  chisel  around 
with  the  flat  side  toward  either  end  of  the  hole,  and  you  can  pare 
down  the  ends  to  the  line  without  danger  of  undercutting  (Fig. 

585). 

Care  must  be  taken  not  to  jam  the  chisel  down  lengthways  of 
the  grain  until  the  hole  is  practically  cleared  of  wood,  or  the  side 


Tools  and  Operations  423 

of  the  mortise  may  be  split  off.  Use  the  chisel  lengthways  of 
the  grain  only  at  the  end  of  the  process,  to  pare  the  sides  of  the 
mortise  evenly,  with  light  strokes,  down  to  the  line. 

In  all  the  use  of  the  chisel,  take  pains  to  hold  it  vertically  as 
regards  the  sides  of  the  mortise  —  that  is,  do  not  tip  it  over  side- 
ways, or  the  mortise  will  be  slanting  or  too  wide  at  the  bottom. 

The  common  firmer-  or  paring-chisel  can  be  used  for  all  light 
mortising,  but  for  heavy  work  the  regular  mortising-chisel  should 
be  used  (see  Chisel}. 

To  cut  the  tenon,  simply  saw  carefully  on  the  line  gh  and  its 
opposite  (Fig.  579)  and  then  on  the  lines  Im  and  rs.  Be  careful 
not  to  cut  beyond  the  line,  so  as  to  make  the  tenon  too  small.  It 
is  easy  to  trim  it  a  little  with  the  chisel  if  it  is  too  large.  Cut  a 
little  bevel  around  the  end  of  the  tenon,  so  that  it  will  drive 
through  smoothly  without  catching  and  tearing  the  sides  or  ends 
of  the  mortise.  When  it  goes  through  properly  and  the  tenon 
and  shoulder  fit  snugly,  the  projecting  end  of  the  tenon  can  be 
sawed  off  after  the  whole  job  is  done. 

The  tenon  should  be  just  large  enough  to  drive  through  with 
a  slight  pressure  and  fit  snugly  without  any  wobbling  around.  It 
should  not  be  so  tight  as  to  require  much  force  to  drive  it  home, 
or  there  will  be  danger  of  splitting  out  the  sides  of  the  mortise. 

There  is  no  absolute  rule  as  to  how  wide  to  make  the  mortise 
and  tenon  in  proportion  to  the  width  of  the  pieces.  It  depends 
on  the  kind  of  work,  the  kinds  of  wood,  the  kind  of  strain  to  be 
put  on  the  joint,  and  various  circumstances  too  complex  to  be 


FIG.  586.  FIG.  587.  FIG.  588. 

gone  into  here.  If  the  tenon  is  very  thin  it  will  be  weaker  than 
the  sides  of  the  mortise  (Fig.  586).  If  very  thick,  the  sides  of 
the  mortise  will  be  too  thin  and  will  be  weaker  than  the  tenon 
(Fig.  587).  One  third  of  the  width  is  as  thin  as  a  tenon  is  often 
made,  It  will  then  sometimes  be  weaker  than  the  sides  of  the 


424         Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  589. 


mortise,  as  you  can  see  from  Fig.  588.  But  it  all  depends  on 
what  the  joint  is  for.  If  it  is  to  stand  violent  wrenching,  the 
tenon  in  this  case  might  break  before  the  mortise-cheeks,  and 
had  best  be  made  a  little  thicker,  with  the  sides  of  the  mortise  a 
little  thinner  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  joint  is  merely  to 
hold  the  tenon-piece  in  position,  as  in  case  of  a 
post  resting  on  a  sill,  one  third  is  plenty  wide 
enough  for  the  tenon,  as  it  will  be  best  not  to 
weaken  the  sill  by  cutting  any  larger  mortise 
than  is  necessary.  Sometimes  the  tenon-piece 
is  simply  let  in  to  the  other  piece  for  its  full 
width.  This  is  called  housing  (Fig.  589).  Two 
thirds  of  the  width  of  the  piece  is  thicker  than  you  will  be  likely 
to  have  occasion  to  make  a  tenon,  as  this  leaves  the  cheeks 
of  the  mortise  very  thin.  It  is  wholly  a  matter  of  judgment  (be- 
tween, say,  one  third  and  two  thirds  of  the  width),  according  to 
the  conditions  of  each  job. 

The  length  to  which  a  mortise  can  safely  be  cut  is  also  a  matter 
of  judgment  according  to  circumstances.  If  the  tenon  is  thin, 
the  mortise  can  be  longer  than  if  the  tenon  is  thick,  as  the  cheeks 
will  be  thicker  and  stronger,  but,  as  a  rule,  avoid  trying  to  make 
very  long  mortises,  unless  the  tenon  is 
very  thin  and  the  wood  very  strong,  as 
there  will  not  be  strength  enough  left  in 
the  cheeks  of  the  mortise  (Fig.  590). 
Six  times  as  long  as  it  is  wide  is  about  as 
long  as  it  is  well  to  make  a  mortise 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  though, 
as  just  said,  it  all  depends  on  the  con- 
ditions of  the  particular  piece  of  work. 
When  a  wide  piece  is  to  be  mortised 
into  another  piece,  two  or  more  tenons 
are  sometimes  cut,  thus  avoiding  too 


FIG.  590. 


FIG.  591. 


long  a  mortise,  but  this  will  not  do  for  very  wide  pieces,  unless 
some  of  the  tenons  are  fitted  loosely,  for  the   expansion    and 


Tools  and  Operations 


425 


contraction  of  the  wide  piece  may  cause  it  to  buckle  or  split  if 
all  the  mortises  fit  snugly  (Fig.  591). 

In  such  cases  as  a  door-frame  or  when  the  end  of  a  board  is 
to  be  fitted  into  the  side  of  a  post,  a  tongue  and  groove  is  often 
used  in  addition  to  the  tenon,  and  this  (known  as  "  relishing") 
is  a  good  way  to  do  (Fig.  592). 

The  mortise  and  tenon  given  above  is  a  very  simple  form. 
Sometimes  the  tenon  is  short  and  does  not  go  through  (Fig. 


FIG.  592. 


FIG.  593. 


593).  This  is  a  common  form,  and  is  used  a  great  deal  in  the 
best  work.  It  is  sometimes  called  blind  mortising,  the  tenon 
being  known  as  a  "  stub  "  tenon. 

Mortise  and  tenon  joints  are  sometimes  merely  fitted  together, 
but  can  also  be  glued  (see  Gluing),  pinned,  wedged,  or  dove- 
tailed and  fastened  with  a  key. 

To  pin  a  mortise  and  tenon,  simply  mark  a  point  with  square 
and  gauge  upon  each  side  of  the  piece  containing  the  mortise 
(Fig.  593),  fit  the  tenon  in  place,  and  bore  in  from  each  side  (or 
in  rough  work  bore  right  through  from  one  side  until  the  spur 
appears  on  the  opposite  surface)  (see  Boring).  Then  drive  through 
a  snugly  fitting  pin  and  trim  off  the  projectig  ends.  The  pin 
should  be  slightly  pointed  before  driving,  on  the  same  principle 


426         Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


that  the  end  of  the  tenon  is  bevelled.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
round  the  pin.  An  eight-sided  one  is  just  as  good. 

Do  not  use  too  large  pins.  In  ship-building,  bridge-building, 
and  old-fashioned  house-framing  pins  and  treenails  from  i" 
to  if"  or  more  in  diameter,  are  used.  Dowels  of  various  sizes 
will  usually  answer  for  such  framing  as  you  may  have  to  do 
(though  a  rift-pin  is  stronger).  For  such  work  as  pinning  a  joint 
in  a  chair,  you  will  not  need  anything  larger  than  a  £"  hardwood 
pin. 

You  must  use  judgment  as  to  how  near  the  edge  to  place  the 
pin.  If  you  put  it  too  far  from  the  edge,  its  hold  on  the  tenon 
will  be  weak  and  the  end  of  the  tenon  may  break  out  (shear). 
If  you  put  it  too  near  the  edge,  the  sides  of  the  mortise  may  tear 
or  split  out. 

Sometimes,  particularly  in  timber  work,  to  insure  a  snug  fit  at 
the  joint,  "  draw-boring  "  is  resorted  to  (Fig.  594).  The  hole  for 
the  pin  is  not  bored  through  the  tenon  as  just  shown,  but  is  bored 
a  trifle  nearer  the  shoulder  of  the  tenon  than  the  other  holes 
(in  the  mortise-piece).  The  result  is  that  when  the  pin  is  driven 


FIG.  594. 


FIG.  595. 


through  it  draws  the  tenon-piece  down  to  a  snug  fit  at  the 
shoulder.  But  this  has  to  be  done  with  judgment.  If  the  hole 
in  the  tenon  is  too  much  out  of  line,  driving  the  pin  through  tends 
to  split  (strictly  speaking  to  shear)  the  end  of  the  tenon,  and  too 
much  strain  is  put  on  the  pin. 

In  the  mortising  just  shown,  there  are  only  two  shoulders  where 
the  tenon  begins  —  that  is,  the  tenon  is  made  by  only  four  cuts. 
This  is  good  for  all  common  or  rough  work.  In  nice  work  a 
shoulder  is  also  cut  at  each  edge  of  the  tenon  (Fig.  595).  This. 


Tools  and  Operations 


427 


makes  a  neater-looking  joint,  as  these  shoulders  cover  the  ends 
of  the  mortise  completely.  When  the  joint  comes  at  the  end  of 
the  mortise-piece,  the  tenon  can  extend  to  the  edge  on  the  out- 
side and  the  mortise  be  cut  clear  out  to 
the  end,  forming  an  open  mortise-and- 
tenon  joint  (Fig.  543),  or  a  wide 
shoulder  can  be  left  on  the  outside  of 
the  tenon  —  the  tenon  itself  being  made 
narrower  (Fig.  596).  This  course  is 
adopted  in  doors  and  frames  of  various  F,G  ,  6 

kinds  (see  Fig.  334). 

A  good  way  to  fasten  tenons  is  to  wedge  them.  This  can  be 
done  whether  the  tenon  goes  through  the  mortise-piece  or  only 
part  way,  as  in  a  blind  joint.  The  wedges  can  be  driven  between 


FIG.  597. 

the  tenon  and  the  ends  of  the  mortise  (Fig.  597),  or,  as  is  often 
better,  driven  into  cuts  made  in  the  tenon  itself,  thus  spreading 
the  tenon  toward  the  end,  dovetail  fashion,  making  it  extremely 


FIG.  600. 


FIG.  598.  FIG.  599. 

difficult,  or  impossible,  to  pull  it  out  of  the  mortise.  Before  wedg- 
ing, the  mortise  should  be  cut  under  or  enlarged  toward  the  side 
on  which  the  tenon  comes  through  (Fig.  598).  The  wedges  can 


428          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


then  be  dipped  in  glue  and  driven  as  in  Fig.  599.  To  spread  the 
tenons  themselves,  one  or  two  or  even  three  saw-cuts  should  be 
made  in  the  tenon,  lengthways  and  farther  than  the  wedges  will 
extend  (Fig.  600).  The  tenon  and  mortise  having  been  properly 
glued,  the  tenon  is  fitted  in  place,  and  the  wedges,  previously  pre- 
pared of  some  strong  wood  and  tapering  quite  gradually,  are 
dipped  in  the  glue  and  driven  down  into  the  saw-cuts,  thus 
spreading  the  end  of  the  tenon  into  a  dovetail  until  it  fills  the 


WBJJP 


FIG.  601. 


FIG.  602. 


mortise  (Fig.  601).  It  is  often  best  to  drive  the  outer  wedges 
nearer  the  edge  of  the  tenon  than  is  shown  in  Fig.  600,  lest  the 
tenon-piece  be  split. 

The  process  is  much  the  same  when  the  tenon  does  not  go  through 
the  mortise-piece  (Fig.  602).  The  mortise  is  undercut  as  before, 
and  saw-cuts  are  made  in  the  end  of  the  tenon.  The  wedges  are 
carefully  planned  and  cut  so  that,  when  the  tenon  is  finally  in 
place,  they  will  be  of  the  right  size  to  spread  it  so  as  to  fit  the 
mortise.  The  wedges  must  not  be  too  long,  so  as  to  interfere 
with  the  tenon  being  driven  home  or  to  break  off.  When  you 
are  sure  the  whole  will  go  into  place  and  fit  snugly,  glue  every- 
thing, start  the  wedges  in  the  cracks,  and  drive  the  tenon  quickly 
to  place.  This  will  of  course  drive  in  the  wedges,  which  will 
spread  the  tenon  at  the  end  and  fix  it  firmly.  In  fact,  if  well 
done,  you  cannot  get  it  out  again. 

There  are  other  forms  of  mortise  and  tenon,  but  they  will  be 
seldom  required  by  the  amateur.  See  Joints. 

Nailing. — To  drive  nails,  hold  the  hammer  near  the  end  of 
the  handle.  Do  not,  as  is  often  done  by  boys  and  amateurs, 


Tools  and  Operations 


429 


grasp  it  close  to  the  head.  The  nearer  the  end  of  the  handle 
you  take  hold,  the  harder  blow  you  can  strike,  just  as  the  longer 
the  handle,  the  harder  the  blow.  Use  light  strokes — mere  taps 
—  in  starting  the  nail.  After  you  are  sure  it  is  going  straight  you 
can  then  use  more  force  to  drive  it  home.  Do  not  try  to  sink 
the  nail-head  quite  flush  with  the  wood.  Leave  that  for  the 
nail-set.  You  may  think  that  any  slight  depression  you  may 
make  if  the  hammer  strikes  the  wood  will  be  too  slight  to  be  seen, 
but  that  is  not  so,  as  the  slightest  dent  or  depression  will  prob- 
ably show  in  finished  work. 

The  head  of  the  hammer  should  be  swung  back  and  forth 
through  an  arc  of  a  circle  of  which  the  wrist  is  the  centre.  Do 
this  carefully  and  steadily  and  you  will  send  the  nail  in  quicker 
and  straighter  than  when  you  flourish  the  hammer  wildly  around 
in  the  air  and  bring  it  down  with  a  ferocious  bang  somewhere  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  nail,  as  boys  of  all  ages  have  been  known  to 
do. 

Now,  remembering  that  the  hammer-head  will  (and  should) 
swing  around  in  an  arc  of  which  your  wrist  is  the  centre,  you 


FIG.  603.  FIG.  604. 

must  see  that  your  wrist  is  in  such  a  position  that  the  hammer- 
head can  strike  the  nail  squarely — that  is,  the  hammer-handle, 
when  the  head  rests  squarely  on  the  nail-head,  must  be  in  a  line 
parallel  with  the  flat  surface  of  the  top  of  the  nail  (Fig.  603).  If 
the  wrist  is  much  above  or  below  this  line,  the  nail  will  be  struck 
slantingly,  and  either  be  driven  crooked  or  bent  (Fig.  604). 


43°         Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


First  place  the  hammer  in  the  correct  driving  position,  and 
then  swing  it  back  and  forth  as  nearly  in  the  same  curve  as 
you  can.  Practise  this  motion  a  little  on  a  soft  piece  of  board 
to  see  how  squarely  you  can  dent  the  board  and  how  nearly  you 
can  hit  the  same  dent  with  successive  strokes. 

Frequently  a  nail  does  not  drive  straight,  but  becomes  bent  and 
goes  in  the  wrong  direction.  If  you  withdraw  it  do  not,  as  a  rule, 
try  to  drive  another  in  the  same  hole,  but  start  it  in  another  place. 
Sometimes  a  nail  will  be  bent  because  the  face  of  the  hammer- 
head has  glue  or  grease  on  it.  In  such  a  case  rub  it  on  a  piece 
of  fine  sandpaper  or  in  the  ashes  or  the  ground. 

Holes  should  always  be  bored  when  there  is  any  chance  of 
splitting,  or  when  slender  nails  are  driven  into  hard  wood  (lest 
they  bend),  but  remember  that  the  hole,  particularly  in  the  inner 
piece,  should  not  be  quite  as  large  as  the  nail.  With  nails  hav- 
ing large  heads  it  does  not  mat- 
ter in  hard  wood  if  the  holes  in 
the  outer  piece  are  about  as  large 
as  the  nails,  provided  the  latter 
drive  tightly  into  the  inner  piece. 

The  hole  made  by  a  bradawl  is 
better,  when  it  does  not  split  the 
wood,  than  one  made  by  a  bit  or 
drill,  because  it  does  not  remove 
the  wood  but  merely  presses  it 
aside,  so  that  when  the  nail  is 
driven  the  fibres  tend  to  spring 
back  to  their  original  position  and 
close  in  around  the  nail,  helping 
to  hold  it  in  place. 

In  driving  the  old-fashioned 
nails,  which  have  two  sides  paral- 
lel, while  the  other  two  incline  toward  the  point  or  taper, 
they  should  be  used  on  the  same  principle  on  which  you  use  the 
bradawl.  If  placed  the  other  way,  the  wedge  shape  of  the  nail 


Tools  and  Operations  431 

will  tend  to  separate  the  fibres  and  split  the  wood  (Fig.  605). 
With  nails  having  two  sides  smooth  and  two  rough,  as  you  pick 
them  up  you  can  tell  by  the  fingers  which  way  to  hold  them, 
the  rough  sides  going  across  the  grain  and  the  smooth  sides  with  it. 

Nails  will  drive  into  hard  wood  easier  if  you  touch  the  points 
to  grease,  tallow,  lard,  or  soap. 

"  Toe  "  Nailing. — If  you  wish  nails  to  hold  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, toe  them — that  is,  slant  them  (Fig.  606).  You  can  see 


FIG.  606.  FIG.  607.  FIG.  608. 

at  a  glance  that  the  board  will  be  held  much  tighter  than  if  the 
nails  were  driven  straight  up  and  down.  Of  course  you  cannot 
always  drive  nails  this  way,  and  there  are  many  cases  in  which 
you  would  gain  nothing,  but  it  takes  only  a  moment  longer  to 
toe  nails,  and  it  is  often  very  useful  where  you  wish  to  be  sure 
that  the  work  will  hold  together.  There  are  many  cases  where 
you  cannot  nail  any  other  way,  as  when  you  fasten  a  stud  to  the 
top  of  a  sill  (Fig.  607),  and  you  can  see  at  once  that  it  is  advan- 
tageous. Of  course  this  is  not  a  good  method  for  work  which 
you  may  wish  to  take  apart  again. 

Slanting  the  nails  helps  to  draw  one  piece  tightly  up  to  another, 
as  is  often  desirable  for  a  tight  box  or  a  floor  (Fig.  608).  You 
can  increase  this  effect,  after  you  have  driven  the  nail  part  way 
in,  by  drawing  the  hammer  towards  you  as  you  strike,  or  in  the 
direction  towards  which  the  nail  points,  thus  bending  the  upper 
part  of  it  toward  the  other  piece,  which  tends  to  make  a  tight 
joint. 

Clinching  Nails. — The  way  to  clinch  nails  is  simply  to  drive  them 
through  against  a  heavy  hammer, or  any  solid  metal  object,  held  on 
the  other  side.  As  the  point  comes  through  it  is  gradually  turned 


432          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


over  or  hooked  around  into  the  wood  and  when  the  head  is  driven 
home  the  point  will  be  firmly  embedded  in  the  wood.  Another 
way  is  to  simply  strike  the  projecting  ends  with  light,  slanting 
blows.  This  will  gradually  bend  or  curl  the  point  over  to  one 
side,  and  as  it  bends  over  you  can  pound  more  directly  downward 
until  the  hooked  end  of  the  nail  is  buried  in  the  wood.  Clinch- 
ing is  very  useful  for  many  purposes,  as  in  nailing  cleats  on  a 
shed  door.  It  is  usually  best  to  bend  the  nails  over  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  grain,  rather  than  across  it. 

Whether  to  clinch  or  toe  the  nails  must  depend  on  the  work. 
Clinching  is  better  for  anything  that  is  to  be  slammed  or  sub- 
jected to  violent  treatment,  while  in  many  cases  toeing  is  better, 
and  frequently  you  cannot  reach  the  points  of  the  nails  to  clinch 
them, 

Blind  nailing  is  resorted  to  in  order  to  have  a  clear,  smooth 
surface,  as  in  floors  laid  with  matched-boards.  Each  board  is 
nailed  just  above  the  tongue,  with  the  nails  slanting  through  the 
solid  part  of  the  board  (Fig.  609).  This  holds  the  board  down 
and  tends  to  force  it  closer  to  the  adjoining  board.  The  grooved 

edge  of  the  next  board  en- 


FIG.  609. 


FIG.  610. 


tirely  conceals  the  nailing 
and  leaves  an  unbroken 
surface. 

Another  form  of  concealed 
nailing,  known  as  "sliver" 
nailing,  is  sometimes 
practised  in  inside  work 
(sometimes  in  putting  up  "  inside  finish  ").  A  little  shaving  is 
raised  with  the  gouge  (an  inside  gouge  is  best)  or  a  narrow  chisel, 
where  the  nail  is  to  go,  and  curled  away  sufficiently  to  drive  and 
set  the  nail  (Fig.  610).  Hot  glue  is  then  dabbed  into  the  groove, 
the  shaving  (which  is  only  raised  at  one  end  and  not  detached 
from  the  wood)  is  pressed  back  into  place,  and  the  spot  rubbed 
with  sandpaper  drawn  around  a  flat  block  until  the  shaving  is 
firmly  glued  where  it  belongs.  This  takes  but  a  moment  or  two, 


Tools  and  Operations 


433 


and  when  the  work  is  finally  smoothed  and  finished  the  place  can- 
not be  detected,  if  the  operation  has  been  properly  done.     This 
is  convenient  to  know  in  case  you  have  to  drive  a  nail  where 
there  is  objection  to  its  being  seen. 
See  Withdrawing  Nails. 

Nails. — There  are  many  kinds  of  nails,  many  more  than  is 
worth  while  to  specify  here,  as  you  will  probably  use  those  of 
wire  for  most  of  your  work.  When  another  kind  would  be 
preferable  (as  is  the  case  for  some  purposes)  it  will  be  specified. 
The  nails  in  common  use  before  the  introduction  of  those  of  wire 
were  known  as  "  cut,"  being  stamped  from  a  sheet  of  metal,  and 
' '  wrought, ' '  the  latter  kind  being  much  older  and  originally  forged 
by  hand  into  shape,  one  by  one  (hence  the  name),  but  now  com- 
monly made  by  machine.  The  expressions  three-penny,  eight- 
penny,  ten-penny,  etc.,  indicate  the  length,  and  come  from  an 
old  custom  of  so  designating  the  lengths,  but  you  need  only  to 
call  for  them  by  the  length,  as  2  inch  or  2f  inch,  in  order  to  get 
what  you  want,  and  you  can  easily  select  whatever  degree  of 
stoutness  you  need.  Copper  or  galvanised  nails  and  tacks  will 
be  needed  for  your  boat-building,  copper  being  preferable,  par- 
ticularly for  salt  water. 


FIG.  611. 

Nail-Set,  or  Punch.— The  nail-set,  for  sinking  nail-heads 
below  the  surface,  is  quite  important,  and  it  is  well  to  have  a 
28 


434          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

large  one  and  a  fine  one.  The  end  of  the  set  or  punch  must  not 
be  allowed  to  become  rounding  or  it  will  be  all  the  time  slipping 
off  the  nail-head  and  punching  holes  in  the  surrounding  wood. 
A  slight  conical  depression  in  the  end  of  the  set  is  good.  Do 
not  use  a  file  for  a  nail-set,  for  the  end  is  too  hard  and  will  dent 
the  face  of  the  hammer-head. 

When  setting  nails,  hold  the  nail-set  firmly  against  the  little 
finger,  placing  the  latter  on  the  wood  close  to  the  head  of  the 
nail,  as  shown  in  Fig.  611.  This  will  keep  the  set  from  slipping 
off  the  nail-head  and  damaging  the  work. 

Nippers. — A  pair  of  these  will  often  be  of  use  in  wood-working 
operations. 

Odd- Jobs. — A  very  simple  combined  tool  known  as  "  Odd- 
jobs"  can  be  used  as  a  marking-gauge,  mortise-gauge,  scratch- 
awl,  try-square,  T-square,  depth-gauge,  mitre-square,  spirit-level 
and  plumb,  inside-square,  and  beam-compass.  It  is  well  suited 
to  much  amateur  work,  and  is  cheap. 

Oil. — Sperm  oil  is  good  to  use  with  your  oil-stones.  Kero- 
sene is  good.  Lard  oil  can  be  used.  All  thick  and  gummy  oils 
should  be  avoided.  Never  use  linseed  oil  or  any  similar  vegetable 
oil,  as  it  is  not  a  good  lubricator,  and  gums  the  stone.  Glycerine 
thinned  with  turpentine  or  alcohol  is  sometimes  used,  and  even 
turpentine  alone.  For  oil  for  finishing  and  painting,  see  Finish- 
ing and  Painting. 

Oil-Stone. — It  is  very  essential  to  have  a  good  oil-stone.  They 
can  be  found  of  many  degrees  of  fineness.  Those  of  very  fine  and 
hard  grain,  which  give  a  keen  edge  but  cut  very  slowly,  will  not 
be  found  so  well  adapted  to  your  use  as  those  of  moderate  coarse- 
ness and  softness,  which  cut  faster.  The  stone  known  as  Red 
Washita  is  good  to  use  for  wood-working  tools,  as  it  cuts  rapidly. 
It  should  be  free  from  hard  spots.  The  Arkansas  stone  pro- 
duces a  very  fine  edge,  but  is  of  so  fine  texture  that  it  is  not  so 
well  adapted  for  your  tools  as  a  coarser  stone,  unless  you  happen 


Tools  and  Operations  435 

to  find  a  quick-cutting  one.     The  Turkey  stone  will  produce  a 
keen  edge,  but  is  not  so  good  for  your  use. 

Some  stones  (and  excellent  ones)  cut  best  with  water.  When 
first  trying  a  new  stone  use  water,  and  if  the  surface  does  not 
become  at  all  glazed  or  polished  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  you 
to  use  oil. 

The  stone  should  always  be  kept  covered  when  not  in  use,  to 
protect  it  from  the  dust  and  dirt.  Set  it  in  a  block  with  a  cover 
or  make  a  box  for  it.  Always  wipe  it  clean  after  using,  to  re- 
move the  paste  of  ground  stone,  steel,  and  oil  left  on  the  surface. 

When  an  oil-stone  becomes  unevenly  worn,  it  can  be  trued  by 
rubbing  it  around  on  a  sheet  of  sandpaper  fastened  on  a  flat  sur- 
face, like  the  side  of  a  board.  Water  can  be  used  in  this 
operation. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  flat  oil-stone,  slips  of  stone  of  various 
shapes  are  useful,  a  common    and  useful          * 
form  being  that  shown  in  Fig.  612,  wedge-     / 
shaped  on  one  edge   and  convex  on  the 


.,  Tr  i  \r  4.     i  •  FIG.  612. 

other.      If  you  have    V-tools,    carving 

gouges,  or  other  tools  sharpened  on  the  inside,  you  must  have 
slips  of  stone  of  various  shapes  with  which  to  sharpen  them. 
See  Oil  and  Sharpening. 

Painting.  —  You  can  paint  your  work  very  satisfactorily  —  per- 
haps not  quite  as  well  or  quickly  as  a  skilled  painter  by  trade, 
but  well  enough  for  all  practical  purposes  if  you  observe  carefully 
a  few  simple  principles.  If  you  disregard  them  and  think,  like 
many  amateurs,  that  anyone  can  paint  right  off  the  first  time 
without  any  knowledge  or  thought,  your  painting  will  be  botch- 
work. 

Keep  your  work  well  painted.  It  is  cheaper  in  the  end  to 
paint  frequently  and  keep  the  work  protected  from  the  decay  and 
damage  due  to  exposure  —  not  to  speak  of  the  better  appearance. 

Do  not  use  cheap  paint,  unless,  of  course,  for  some  cheap  or 
temporary  purpose,  and  it  is  most  important  that  the  first  or 


436          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

"  priming  "  coat  should  be  of  good  quality.  If  you  are  obliged 
to  use  inferior  paint  at  all,  use  the  best  for  the  first  coat  and  the 
poorer  quality  outside  rather  than  the  reverse,  but  it  is  economy 
of  money  and  time  to  use  good  paint  throughout. 

Prepared  liquid  paints  are  the  simplest,  handiest,  and  cleanest 
for  amateur  work,  and  (if  you  do  not  try  to  economise  on  the 
quality)  the  best  for  you  to  use  for  many  purposes,  but  for  out- 
side work  (work  exposed  to  the  weather)  you  can  probably  do  no 
better  than  to  use  the  best  quality  of  white  lead  and  oil,1  coloured 
if  desired,  which  costs  less,  is  more  durable,  and  which  you  can 
easily  mix  yourself,  or  buy  already  mixed  of  a  painter.  If  you 
need  but  a  little,  you  can  get  a  pot  of  paint  with  suitable  brush  at 
a  paint  shop,  returning  what  you  do  not  use  and  paying  by  weight. 
But  if  you  have  much  painting  to  do,  it  is  better  and  cheaper  to 
have  your  own  brushes  and  paint.  The  prepared  paints  of  any 
colour  you  can  also  buy  in  the  form  of  paste,  to  be  thinned  when 
used,  which  is  usually  cheaper  than  the  prepared  paint  in  liquid 
form. 

The  white  lead  you  can  buy  by  the  pound,  ground  and  already 
thinned  with  oil,  or,  what  is  perhaps  more  reliable,  ground  in  the 
form  of  paste  ready  to  be  thinned  with  oil  or,  if  for  inside  work, 
with  turpentine.  White  lead,  which  is  also  the  basis  or  an  in- 
gredient of  the  prepared  paints,  is  a  poisonous  and  unhealthful 
substance.  There  is,  however,  but  slight  danger  (practically 
none)  from  such  painting  as  you  will  do.  But  it  is  well  to  wear 
old  clothes  when  you  paint,  and  carefully  wash  the  hands  and 
face  as  soon  as  the  work  is  done,  and  in  case  of  continued  indoor 
painting  to  see  that  the  room  is  well  ventilated.  The  mere  odour 
from  a  can  of  paint  is  enough  to  make  some  people  feel  ill,  as 
you  may  know,  while  it  can  be  used  for  a  long  time  by  others 
apparently  without  harm. 

In  regard  to  coloured  paints,  the  simplest  way  is  to  buy  your 

1  This  seems  to  be  the  common  opinion  among  experienced  men.  There  are, 
however,  many  painters  of  experience  who  prefer  the  prepared  liquid  paint  for 
outside  work,  and  it  certainly  saves  trouble. 


Tools  and  Operations  437 

colours  ready  mixed  in  oil,  to  be  thinned  for  use,  or  in  liquid  form 
of  any  desired  colour,  prepared  to  use  upon  opening  the  can. 
You  can,  however,  colour  or  tint  your  paint  yourself  with  various 
dry  colours,  which  you  can  buy  in  the  form  of  powder  at  the  paint 
shops  for  a  few  cents.  It  takes  but  very  little  of  most  colours. 
Do  not  stir  these  dry  colours  directly  into  your  paint,  but  first 
mix  them  with  oil  or  turpentine. 

It  requires  considerable  knowledge  of  colours  and  their  com- 
binations to  know  how  to  mix  different  colours  or  shades  to  pro- 
duce some  particular  shade,  or  to  match  some  tint,  but  when  the 
exact  shade  makes  no  difference  you  will  have  no  great  difficulty 
in  producing  the  colour  you  wish.  Test  the  shade  of  your  paint 
on  a  piece  of  wood.  The  way  it  looks  in  the  paint-pot  is  often 
very  deceptive.  In  making  a  shade  darker,  especially  when 
tinting  white  paint,  be  careful  to  add  but  a  very  little  of  the  darker 
pigment  at  first  and  be  sure  that  it  is  thoroughly  mixed,  or  you 
will  be  likely  to  find  after  you  have  begun  to  paint  that  you  have 
a  much  darker  shade  than  you  intended.  It  is  surprising  how 
small  a  quantity  is  sometimes  needed  to  tint  a  whole  canful  of 
white  paint — the  merest  dab  of  chrome  yellow  will  tint  a  quart  of 
white  paint  to  a  good  cream  shade.  Remember  that  it  is  much 
easier  to  add  a  little  more  colour  if  the  result  is  not  dark  enough 
than  to  lighten  the  shade  if  too  dark. 

Linseed  oil  (either  raw  or  boiled)  is  required  with  which  to 
mix  the  lead  and  thin  it  to  the  proper  consistency.  Raw  oil  is 
best  for  outside  work  that  is  exposed  to  the  weather,  as  it  is  more 
penetrating  and  more  adhesive,  although  slower  in  drying  than 
boiled  oil.  Boiled  oil  does  very  well  for  inside  work  where  it  is 
not  exposed  to  the  weather.  There  is  some  difference  of  opinion, 
however,  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  two  kinds. 

Turpentine  is  also  used  for  thinning  paint.  It  makes  the  paint 
flow  easily  and  is  freely  used  for  that  reason,  but  it  probably  de- 
tracts from  the  durability  of  all  paint  if  used  lavishly  and  should 
never  be  used  for  outside  work.  It  is  commonly  used  for  inside 
work  and  causes  the  paint  to  work  more  freely  and  smoothly 


438          Wood-Working  for  Beginners  • 

from  the  brush  and  to  dry  more  quickly.  It  gives  the  paint  that 
dull,  soft,  or  "  dead  "  appearance  often  desired  in  inside  work, 
instead  of  the  shiny  surface  which  is  produced  when  mixed  with 
linseed  oil  alone. 

It  is  usual  to  add  to  the  paint  something  else,  known  as  a 
"  dryer,"  to  cause  it  to  dry  more  quickly.  Japan  is  one  of  the 
best  of  these  preparations,  but  be  careful  to  use  very  little  of  any 
form  of  dryer,  as  it  is  undoubtedly  injurious  to  the  durability  of 
the  paint  and  liable  to  cause  cracking  and  checking.  Avoid  all 
kinds  of  "  chain-lightning  "  dryers.  Do  not  add  a  dryer  to  the 
colour  until  just  before  you  use  the  paint  and  only  to  the  amount 
you  are  to  use  at  one  time. 

Another  ingredient,  which  is  not  injurious  to  use,  is  zinc,  but 
zinc  paints  are  considered  inferior.  Red  lead  is  commonly  used 
to  paint  iron  and  is  considered  very  durable  for  that  purpose. 
Black  japan 'varnish  is  often  used.  Iron  must  always  be  dry  and 
it  will  be  better  to  have  it  warm  also. 

Be  sure  that  your  work  is  thoroughly  dry  before  beginning  to 
paint,  else  the  wood  will  be  liable  to  decay,  or  the  paint  to  peel, 
or  both.  Do  not  paint  wood  before  it  is  thoroughly  seasoned. 
Look  the  work  over  carefully  and  see  that  it  is  ready  in  all  re- 
spects, before  applying  the  paint.  See  that  the  surface  is  free 
from  dust. 

Look  over  the  work  for  any  knots  or  streaks  of  resinous  or 
pitchy  matter  and  wash  them  with  a  coat  or  two  of  shellac,  to 
"  kill  "  the  turpentine  and  prevent  its  oozing  through  and  spoiling 
the  paint. 

Try  to  mix  enough,  and  only  enough,  paint  for  the  coat  you 
are  about  to  put  on,  but  do  not  mix  a  great  quantity  in  advance 
with  the  idea  of  keeping  it  on  hand. 

The  first  coat  should  be  thin  rather  than  thick — with  plenty  of 
oil  to  saturate  the  wood.  The  oil  will  be  quickly  drawn  into  the 
wood,  and  you  can  readily  see  that  the  first  coat  should  be  thin 
to  properly  soak  into  the  surface.  If  thick,  the  paint  will  not  be 
sufficiently  absorbed,  but  the  oil  will  soak  in  quickly,  leaving  too 


Tools  and  Operations  439 

much  residue  of  the  pigment  on  the  outside.  Work  this  first 
coat  well  into  the  wood.  Take  up  but  little  paint,  and  draw  the 
brush  carefully  over  the  edge  of  the  pail,1  or  over  a  wire  stretched 
across  the  top,  to  remove  any  superfluity  of  paint,  and  begin  the 
painting  at  the  highest  part  of  the  work,  or  the  part  farthest  from 
you,  to  prevent  spattering  or  dripping  paint  over  the  freshly 
covered  surface.  Begin,  also,  at  one  end  or  side  of  the  surface, 
working  toward  the  other  end  or  side,  drawing  the  brush  back 
and  forth  both  ways  to  distribute  the  paint  as  evenly  and  smoothly 
as  possible,  and  try  not  to  leave  any  part  of  a  surface  untouched 
until  another  time,  or  it  will  be  likely  to  show  a  "  lap  "  where 
you  end  and  begin  —  that  is,  if  you  cannot  cover  the  work  en- 
tirely at  one  time,  leave  off  where  there  is  some  natural  line  or 
break  in  the  work.  Finish  the  side  or  the  end  and  do  not  leave 
off  right  in  the  middle  of  a  flat  surface.  This  does  not  matter 
quite  so  much  in  thepriming,but  will  show  plainly  in  the  later  coats. 

After  this  coat  has  had  time  to  dry  thoroughly,  carefully  putty 
the  holes  and  cracks.  Remember  never  to  use  the  putty  until 
after  at  least  one  coat  of  paint  has  been  applied  and  dried.  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  the  fresh  wood  will  quickly  absorb  the  oil 
from  the  putty,  leaving  it  dry  and  crumbly,  while  if  a  coat  of 
paint  has  been  put  on  first  and  dried,  the  wood  will  be  already 
charged,  so  to  speak  ;  the  pores  will  be  more  or  less  choked  up 
and  the  bulk  of  the  oil  will  remain  in  the  putty. 

Paint  with  the  grain  of  the  wood,  or  the  long  way  of  the  work, 
using  a  large  brush  for  large  surfaces  and  finishing  all  corners, 
mouldings,  and  edges  with  a  small  brush.  In  doors  or  panel- 
work  first  paint  the  panels,  then  the  rails,  then  the  styles  (see 
Fig.  505).  You  will  thus  follow  the  construction  of  the  work 
and  the  grain  of  the  wood,  and  where  you  daub  the  paint  beyond 
the  part  you  are  painting  (as  you  will  have  to  do),  the  daub  will 
be  wiped  out  neatly  when  you  paint  the  next  part. 

Paint  joints  in  outside  work,  tenons  and  mortises,  shoulders, 

1  It  is  not  a  good  plan  to  wipe  brushes  on  the  sharp  edge  of  a  tin  can,  as  it 
injures  the  bristles. 


440          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

etc.,  before  putting  together,  with  good  white  lead.  It  is  not 
always  customary  to  paint  the  hidden  parts  of  joints  before  put- 
ting together,  particularly  in  cheap  work,  but  it  is  well  to  do  so 
in  all  work  which  you  wish  to  have  endure,  in  all  framework  ex- 
posed to  water  and  the  weather,  and  in  boat-building.  Exposed 
work  quickly  decays  at  the  joints  and  seams  because  the  water 
and  dampness  collect  in  such  places  and  do  not  run  off  or  evap- 
orate as  readily  as  from  a  smooth  surface,  so  the  more  you  can 
protect  these  hidden  parts  with  paint,  the  better,  and  the  labour 
is  but  slight. 

When  you  have  „ paint  left  in  the  paint-pot  which  you  wish  to 
keep  for  use  another  time,  pour  just  enough  raw  linseed  oil  over 
the  top  to  cover  it  completely.  This  thin  layer  of  oil  will  exclude 
the  air  and  keep  the  paint  from  hardening.  When  you  wish  to 
use  it  again,  pour  off  the  oil  or  stir  it  into  the  paint,  according  to 
whether  the  latter  requires  more  oil  or  not.  When  you  get 
through  painting,  if  you  are  going  to  do  more  in  a  short  time,  it 
will  do  to  leave  the  brush  in  the  paint,  but  do  not  leave  it  stand- 
ing or  resting  on  the  bottom  of  the  can,  as  that  tends  to  bend  the 
ends  of  the  bristles  and  get  the  brush  out  of  shape.  Rig  a  wire 
hook  on  the  handle  and  hang  the  brush  so  that  the  bristles  will 
be  covered  by  the  paint,  but  without  touching  the  bottom.  If 
you  are  not  going  to  use  the  brush  again  for  some  time,  it  should 
be  cleaned  and  put  away.  Turpentine  is  often  used,  but  kero- 
sene answers  every  purpose.  Be  careful  to  wash  out  all  the 
paint,  however,  as  a  very  little  left  between  the  bristles  will 
stick  them  together  so  as  sometimes  to  ruin  the  brush.  Another 
way  to  keep  brushes  which  are  in  use  is  to  hang  them  from  the 
handles  in  a  can  partially  filled  with  oil,  the  whole  being  kept 
covered.  Water  can  be  used  instead  of  oil.  Arrange  it  so  that 
the  hairs  will  be  just  covered. 

The  first  coat  especially  should  be  given  plenty  of  time  to  dry, 
for  it  is  the  foundation  and  basis  of  the  whole  operation  and  the 
firmness  and  durability  of  the  painting  depends  much  upon  it. 

Each  succeeding  coat  should  have  plenty  of  time  to  dry  before 


Tools  and  Operations  441 

applying  another,  bearing  in  mind  that  applying  a  second  coat, 
before  the  first  is  fully  hard,  excludes  the  air  from  the  under 
layer  of  paint  and  causes  it  to  dry  much  more  slowly  than  if  left 
exposed  as  it  should  be.  In  such  cases,  the  outside  surface  may 
often  seem  to  be  dry  and  hard  while  the  paint  underneath  re- 
mains comparatively  soft.  When  the  first  layer  finally  does  dry, 
the  tendency  is  to  crack  the  surface  of  the  outside,  which  has 
dried  first.  You  can  find  an  extreme  illustration  of  this  point  in 
some  old  paint  and  varnish  shop  where  some  convenient  place 
on  the  wall  has  been  taken  against  which  to  slap  and  work 
brushes.  You  can  find  daubs  of  old  paint  and  varnish,  some- 
times an  inch  thick,  made  up  in  this  way  of  hundreds  of  layers 
slapped  on  before  the  previous  ones  were  dry,  the  inside  remain- 
ing soft  in  some  cases  after  twenty  years. 

Paint  dries,  as  a  rule,  more  quickly  in  a  warm  temperature  than 
where  it  is  cold,  and  more  quickly  where  it  is  dry  than  where  it 
is  damp.  So,  if  you  are  obliged  to  paint  where  it  is  cold  or  damp, 
you  will  be  justified  in  using  more  dryer  than  where  it  is  warm 
and  dry. 

Sandpaper  nice  inside  work  after  the  first  coat  and  between 
each  two  successive  coats.  Pumice  can  be  used  for  old  inside 
work  to  be  repainted.  Steel  wool  can  also  be  used. 

Keep  a  rag  with  you,  when  painting,  to  wipe  off  the  spattering 
which  you  will  be  sure  to  make.  It  is  not  easy  to  get  daubs  of 
paint  off  after  they  are  hard. 

Turpentine  will  take  the  paint  from  your  hands,  but  common 
kerosene  will  clean  them  satisfactorily  when  the  paint  is  fresh, 
and  is  probably  better  for  the  hands. 

Panels. — See  Doors  and  Panels. 
Panel-Saw. — See  Saw. 

Paring. — In  paring  or  trimming  a  piece  of  wood  to  a  line,  if 
there  is  much  surplus  wood  to  be  removed,  you  can  sometimes 
chop  pretty  boldly  with  the  hatchet  until  you  get  near  the  line, 
provided  you  watch  the  direction  of  the  grain  carefully  to  see 


442  Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


that  the  split  cannot  run  up  to  the  line  ;  sometimes  you  can  chop 
safely  in  one  direction  but  not  in  the  opposite  (Fig.  613),  but 
as  a  rule  keep  well  away  from  the  line  for  the  first  cut.  Even 

wood  that  appears  to  be 
quite  straight-grained  will 
often  split  differently 
from  the  way  you  expect. 
To  trim  a  piece  of 
wood,  like  the  edge  of  a 
board,  down  to  a  line, 
with  a  hatchet,  for  in- 
stance, you  can  first  score 
the  piece  with  a  series  of 
short  cuts,  stopping  short 
of  the  line,  to  break  up 
the  grain  of  the  wood,  and  then  trim  these  loosened  chips  off 
down  to  the  line  with  the  plane,  chisel,  draw-knife,  or  whatever 
tool  may  be  suitable.  The  main  point  is  to  cut  in  such  a  direc- 
tion that  the  grain  will  not  cause  the  cuts  to  extend  farther  than 
the  line  or  to  run  into  the  main  piece  of  wood  (Fig.  614).  The 
same  principle  can  be  applied  often  in  trimming  and  removing 
superfluous  wood  with  a  chisel,  a  draw-knife,  or  a  knife.  The 
cuts  can  often  be  made  with  the  saw  to  better  advantage  (Fig. 
614).  It  takes  a  little  more  time  to  make  these  cross-cuts  with 


FIG.  613. 


FIG.  614.  FIG.  615. 

hatchet,  knife,  chisel,  or  saw  than  to  whack  away  furiously  length- 
ways, as  if  you  were  chopping  kindling,  but  after  you  have  spoiled 
a  few  pieces  by  splitting  beyond  the  line  you  will  conclude  that 
the  fprmer  is  the  more  workmanlike  and  reliable  way. 


Tools  and  Operations 


443 


This  same  principle  is  applicable  to  making  chamfers  or  bevels 
with  a  chisel  or  knife  (Fig.  615).  You  will  find  frequent  occasion 
to  apply  this  principle  of  breaking  the  grain  into  small  pieces  be- 
fore making  the  final  cuts  in  many  kinds  of  work.  It  is  in  con- 
stant use  in  "  roughing  out  "  carving. 

To  trim  to  a  curve  as  shown  in  Fig.  616,  begin  at  the  edge  just 
outside  of  the  end  of  the  curve  and 
work  with  the  grain  from  a  to  b.  It 
is  often  a  help  in  such  cases  to  first  re- 
move part  of  the  wood  with  the  saw, 
as  on  the  lines  be  and  then  ef.  Finally 
trim  the  curve  smoothly  close  to 
the  line.  Frequently  this  can  be  done 
to  better  advantage  with  the  work 
held  in  the  vise  instead  of  lying  horizontally  on  the  bench. 

Paring  off  superfluous  wood  down  to  a  given  line  or  trimming 
off  an  irregular  edge  with  the  chisel  is  very  easily  done  provided 
the  grain  of  the  wood  is  straight,  or  runs  in  the  same  direction, 
even  if  slanting,  as  in  Fig.  617,  because  you  can  then  cut  with 
the  grain.  It  is  often  better,  however,  to  cut  across  the  grain,  or 


FIG.  616. 


FIG.  617. 

diagonally,  with  the  chisel,  as  the  wood  is  less  likely  to  be  split 
by  the  tool. 

When  the  grain  runs  in  several  directions,  and  keeps  cropping 
up  to  the  surface  and  dipping  down  again  as  shown  in  Fig.  701, 
it  becomes  more  difficult  to  pare  the  surface  smoothly  with  the 


444          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


chisel.  In  such  a  case  remember  the  sliding  or  drawing  stroke 
and  traverse  the  surface  with  a  diagonal  crossways  motion 
(Fig.  619)  that  will  trim  off  the  fibres  with  a  slanting  stroke  with- 
out causing  them  to  be  torn  up.  Slant  the  cut  so  that  if  the 
wood  should  tend  to  split,  it  will  be  in  the  direction  of  the  part 
cut  away  and  not  towards  the  piece  to  be  kept  —  i.  <?.,  so  that  the 
chips  will  spilt  and  not  the  body  of  the  wood.  Reverse  the  chisel 

and  cut  in  the  oppos- 
ite direction  when  a 
change  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  grain  re- 
quires  it.  Some 
pieces  are,  however, 

FIG.  619.  so  extremely  irregular 

that  you  cannot  do 
this,  but  must  slice  away  the  best 
that  you  can  and  leave  the  rest  to 
other  tools.  In  cutting  off  a 
corner  or  rounding  or  bevelling 
an  edge  you  can  use  the  slanting 
cut  (Fig.  620). 

In  using  the  chisel  for  paring, 
let  the  left  hand,  which  is  nearer 
the  cutting-edge  than  the  right,  act  as  a  brake  or  countercheck 
or  drag  to  check  the  progress  of  the  tool.  It  is  largely  by  the 
varying  balance  of  these  two  forces  —  the  pushing  forward  of  the 
tool  with  the  right  hand  and  the  checking  and  controlling  with 
the  left  —  that  correct  and  effective  control  of  the  tool  is  gained. 
The  left  hand  should  in  many  cases  rest  upon  or  grasp  the  wood 
as  well  as  the  blade.  See  Chisel. 

Paring-Chisel. — See  Chisel. 
Parting-Tool. — See  Carving  Tools. 
Pencil. — See  Marking. 


FIG.  620. 


Tools  and  Operations  445 

Pincers. — There  are  various  kinds  of  pincers,  pliers,  and 
nippers.  A  pair  of  common  pliers  and  also  cutting  nippers  will 
be  very  useful. 

Plane. — A  plane  is  in  principle  (roughly  speaking),  as  you 
will  readily  see,  nothing  but  a  chisel  stuck  through  a  block  of 
wood  or  iron.  Small  or  narrow  surfaces  may  be  smoothed  to  a 
certain  degree  by  the  chisel,  the  knife,  or  even  the  hatchet,  but 
for  large  surfaces  something  is  needed  which  can  be  more  exactly 
controlled  than  the  knife,  ax,  or  chisel,  held  in  the  hands.  So, 
to  hold  the  chisel  firmly  in  one  position  and  to  apply  force  to  it 
more  advantageously,  it  is  firmly  fixed  in  a  block  of  convenient 
size  and  shape  and  becomes  a  plane. 

A  very  short  block  will  prevent  the  chisel  cutting  deeper  at  one 
point  than  another,  but  the  tool  will  follow  the  irregularities  of 
the  surface  and,  though  it  may  make  the  surface  smooth,  it  will 
not  make  it  level,  or  flat;  so  the  block  is  made  longer,  that  it 
may  not  go  down  into  all  the  little  hollows,  but  plane  off  only  the 
higher  parts. 

The  two  essential  parts  of  a  plane  are  the  iron  and  the  stock. 
The  bottom  surface  of  the  stock 
is  called  the  sole  or  face  (ab  in  Fig. 
621),  the  wedge-shaped  hole  where 
the  iron  goes  is  called  the  throat 
(c\  and  the  slot  at  the  bottom  w 

through   which    the   edge   of    the 

,  ,  ,,  FIG.  621. 

iron  projects  is  called  the  mouth  (a). 

Bear  in  mind  that  the  shape  of  the  cut  made  by  the  plane  will 
be  a  reversed  copy  of  the  shape  of  the  cutting-edge.  If  the  edge 
is  rounding,  the  cut  will  be  hollowing.  If  the  edge  is  hollowing, 
the  cut  will  be  rounding.  If  the  edge  is  straight,  the  cut  will  be 
straight.  If  the  edge  is  nicked,  ridges  will  be  left  on  the  wood. 

If  buying  new,  you  will  do  best,  as  a  rule,  to  get  iron  planes, 
though  very  good  ones  can  be  had  with  wooden  stocks,  but  with 
the  convenient  appliances  of  the  iron  planes.  Some  workmen 


/STOCK 


446          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

still  prefer  the  old  wooden  planes,  but  it  is  better  to  buy  iron 

ones. 

The  jack-plane  is  used  for  coarse  work  and  to  rough  off  the 

surface  with  large  shavings,  ready  for  the  other  planes.     Four- 

teen  or  fifteen 
inches  is  a  good 
length.  The  edge 
of  the  iron  i  s  n  o  t 
ground  squarely 
across,  like  the 

chisel,    but    is 
FIG.  622.  FIG.  623.  ,    ,     ,.   ,    , 

rounded  slightly  so 

as  to  cut  deeper  in  the  middle  (Fig.  622).  Heavy  shavings 
can  be  cut  and  the  rough  outside  of  a  piece  of  wood  taken  off 
quicker  and  easier  than  with  a  more  squarely  ground  iron,  but 
it  does  not  leave  the  surface  smooth,  as  the  strokes  of  the  jack- 
plane  from  a  series  of  hollows  and  ridges  (Fig.  623,  exaggerated). 
After  taking  off  the  rough  surface  with  the  iron  projecting  con- 
siderably, you  can  of  course  set  the  iron  finer,  and  by  going  over 
the  work  several  times  you  can  take  off  the  worst  of  the  ridges, 
but  without  a  great  deal  of  labour  you  can  never  get  a  really 
smooth  surface  with  a  plane  that  cuts  hollows.  A  common  use  of 
the  jack-plane  is  for  "  traversing,"  or  planing  across  the  grain, 
which  is  often  the  quickest  and  easiest  way  to  reduce  a  surface  to 
the  desired  shape,  and  for  cleaning  off  where  pieces  have  been 
glued  together.  If  you  should  use  a  jack-plane  to  do  the  work 
of  a  fore-plane,  have  it  ground  more  squarely  across  like  the  fore- 
plane. 

If  you  use  an  old-fashioned  wooden  plane,  take  the  handle  in 
your  right  hand,  laying  your  left  over  the  top  and  side,  just  a 
little  in  front  of  the  iron,  with  the  thumb  towards  you  and  the 
fingers  on  the  farther  side,  as  shown  in  Fig.  624.  This  position 
allows  you  to  bear  weight  on  the  fore  part  of  the  plane  when 
necessary  and  to  control  the  tool  to  the  best  advantage.  This 
applies  to  the  old-fashioned  wooden  planes.  If  your  plane  is 


Tools  and  Operations 


447 


iron,  there  is  a  handle  or  knob  for  the  left  hand  which  you  simply 
grasp  in  a  natural  way. 

Push  the  jack-plane  forward  steadily  an  arm's-length.     Then 
stop  and  start  afresh  for   another  arm's-length  stroke.      When 


FIG.  624. 

drawing  the  plane  back  tip  it  on  the  farther  edge.  The  cap  or 
break-iron  can  be  set  quite  far  back  from  the  edge  for  rough 
work,  about  one  eighth  inch,  but  much  nearer  for  finer  work. 

In  these  days  when  almost  everything  is  planed  by  machinery 
with  greater  or  less  smoothness,  you  will  probably  not  have  much 
use  for  a  jack-plane  unless  you  find  you  have  a  good  deal  of 
rough  planing  to  do  yourself. 

The  fore-plane  or  trying-plane  is  longer  and  larger  than  the 
jack-plane.  Eighteen  to  twenty-two  inches  is  a  good 
length.  It  is  used  to  straighten  and  level  the  surface 
after  the  worst  roughness  has  been  taken  off.  The 
surface  having  been  roughed  off  by  the  jack-plane, 
the  fore-plane  is  not  required  to  take  off  such  heavy 
shavings  and  the  iron  is  therefore  ground  squarely 
across  like  a  chisel,  but  very  slightly  rounded  at  the 
corners  (Fig.  625).  It  is  held  in  the  same  way  as  the  jack-plane, 


448          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

but  the  stroke  should  be  long  and  steady,  for  the  fore-plane,  which 
is  long,  will  straighten  the  surface,  and  smooth  it  also.  The  iron 
can  project  more  for  soft  and  loose-grained  woods  than  for  hard, 
and  the  cap  or  break-iron  should  be  nearer  the  edge  for  hard 
woods. 

The  jointer  (22"  to  30"  in  length)  or  long  jointer  (from  24" 
to  30"),  is  still  longer  than  the  fore-plane  and  correspondingly 
more  accurate  for  making  a  surface  level  and  true,  or  for  shoot- 
ing the  edges  of  boards.  Twenty-four  inches  is  a  good  length. 
It  is  very  useful  for  making  joints  to  be  glued,  and  is  used  in 
the  same  way  as  the  fore-plane,  the  stroke  being  continued 
steadily  the  whole  length  of  the  piece  if  possible. 

The  smoothing-plane  is  used,  as  its  name  indicates,  for  the  final 
smoothing  of  the  surface,  so  far  as  it  can  be  done  with  a  plane. 
It  is  from  five  to  ten  inches  long. 

It  is  an  invaluable  plane  to  the  amateur,  and  the  beginner  can 
get  along  very  well  for  a  great  deal  of\work  with  no  other,  for 
stock  can  be  bought  ready  planed  and  can  easily  be  trued  and 
jointed,  when  necessary,  at  any  wood-working  mill  or  shop  at 
slight  expense. 

A  plane  with  a  short  stock,  as  the  smoothing-plane,  will  make 


FIG.  626. 


your  work  smooth,  but  it  is  hard  to  make  it  straight  and  level  or 
true  with  such  a  tool,  because,  being  short,  it  will  follow  the 
larger  irregularities  of  the  surface  and  will  only  plane  off  the 
smaller  inequalities.  It  will  go  up  and  down  over  the  hills  and 


Tools  and  Operations  449 

valleys  of  the  wood,  so  to  speak,  while  a  longer  plane  cannot  do 
this,  but  will  cut  off  the  tops  of  the  hills  until  the  surface  is  made 
level,  as  shown  in  Fig.  626.  The  smoothing-plane  is  therefore 
merely  to  smooth  the  surface  after  it  has  been  straightened  by  a 
longer  plane,  or  in  cases  where  smoothness  only  is  essential  and 
it  is  not  required  that  the  surface  should  be  true.  Small  pieces 
can,  of  course,  be  straightened  and  trued  by  the  smoothing-plane 
alone. 

A  wooden  smoothing-plane  can  be  held  as  shown  in  Fig.  627. 


FIG.  627. 

An  iron  plane  can  be  used  by  laying  the  hand  naturally  over  the 
knob  for  the  purpose. 

The  block-plane  is  small  and  is  meant  chiefly  for  planing  across 
the  ends  of  pieces  (for  planing  "  end-grain  "),  but  it  is  also  fre- 
quently useful  in  other  directions.  The  iron  is  usually  set  at  a 
more  acute  angle  with  the  face  of  the  stock  than  in  the  other 
planes  and  with  the  bevel  upwards,  and  the  width  of  the  mouth 
is  often  adjustable,  which  is  a  convenience.  A  block-plane  is 
made  which  can,  by  means  of  a  detachable  side,  be  used  as  a 
rabbet-plane.  The  block-plane  makes  a  quite  good  substitute 
for  a  smoothing-plane  for  amateur  work  and  is  a  very  useful  little 
tool. 

The  toothed-plane  is  about  the  size  of  the  smoothing-plane, 
but  the  iron  is  corrugated  or  scored  with  grooves  lengthwise, 
so  that  one  side  of  the  cutting-edge  of  the  iron,  instead  of  being 
smooth,  is  notched  into  little  teeth  somewhat  like  a  fine  saw 


45°          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

or  the  edge  of  a  file,  and  the  iron  is  inserted  in  the  body  of  the 
plane  almost  vertically.  This  plane  makes  scratches  all  along  its 
course  instead  of  taking  off  shavings.  It  is  used  in  veneering 
and  in  gluing  other  surfaces.  It  can  frequently  be  used  to  good 
advantage  to  break  up  the  grain  where  two  edges  or  surfaces  are 
to  be  glued  together,  so  that  the  glue  may  hold  the  two  rough 
surfaces  together  more  strongly,  upon  somewhat  the  same  prin- 
ciple that  the  plastering  on  a  lathed  wall  holds  its  place  tightly 
through  the  hold  it  gets  on  the  cracks  between  the  laths,  intention- 
ally left  for  the  purpose.  The  toothed-plane  is  used  for  this 
purpose  in  veneering.  The  idea  upon  which  this  tool  is  based 
originated  with  the  Orientals,  who  have  for  ages  scratched  or 
toothed  the  joints  of  their  woodwork. 

It  can  also  be  used  to  subdue  a  refractory  piece  of  crooked  grain 
which  you  wish  to  get  smooth,  but  which  may  crop  to  the  surface 
in  such  a  way  that  you  cannot  plane  it  without  chipping  the 
grain.  By  scratching  the  surface  thoroughly  in  all  directions 
with  the  toothed-plane  set  very  fine,  the  obstinate  fibres  can  be 
broken  so  that  the  surface  can  be  smoothed  with  the  scraper,  not 
using  the  smoothing-plane.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  if  you 
cannot  smooth  a  piece  of  wood,  the  trouble  is  usually  with  the 
edge  of  the  plane-iron  or  its  adjustment,  or  with  your  manner  of 
planing,  for  a  very  keen  edge  is  supposed  to  be  able  to  cut  the 
most  obstinate  grain,  unless,  of  course,  the  wood  is  extraordinarily 
hard. 

The  bull-nosed-plane  has  the  iron  close  to  the  fore  end  of  the 
stock,  to  work  into  corners  and  awkward  places  which  cannot  be 
reached  by  the  smoothing-  or  block-planes.  The  iron  is  reversed. 
A  very  small  plane  (perhaps  four  inches  long)  of  this  kind  is 
useful. 

The  circular-plane  is  used  for  planing  curved  surfaces,  the  sole 
being  now  made  of  a  thin,  flexible  metal  plate  and  adjustable  so 
that  either  concave  or  convex  surfaces  can  be  smoothed.  It  is 
very  useful  at  times,  but  is  not  essential  for  an  amateur. 

The  rabbet-plane,  which  is  used  to  cut  rabbets,  as  the  name  in- 


Tools  and  Operations 


dicates,  is  a  useful  tool,  but  in  most  cases  you  can  dispense  with 
it  by  having  rabbets  cut  at  a  mill. 

A  router,  for  cleaning  out  and  smoothing  the  bottoms  of  grooves 
and  depressions,  is  very  useful  at  times. 

There  is  a  variety  of  other  planes  for  special  purposes,  as  the 
plough,  matching-planes,  hollcnu  and  round  planes,  beading-planes, 
etc.,  as  well  as  various  combination  and  "universal"  planes. 
Many  of  these  are  excellent,  but,  as  a  rule,  are  not  important  for 
the  amateur  in  these  days,  as  the  work  they  do  can  be  so  easily 
and  cheaply  done  at  a  mill.  You  will  seldom  feel  the  need  of  buy- 
ing any  of  them,  unless  you  live  where  you  cannot  reach  a  factory. 

You  will  find  it  important  to  bear  in  mind  the  purpose  of  the 
cap  or  dull  iron  screwed  upon  one  side  of  the  cutting-iron,  in 
what  are  called  "  double-ironed  "  planes.  A  plane  with  a  single 
iron,  like  a  chisel,  will  cut  satisfactorily  and  easily  for  straight- 
grained,  soft  wood,  and  for  hard  wood  when  planing  with  the 
grain,  but  many  pieces  of  stock  are  difficult  to  plane,  because  the 
grain  does  not  run  in  the.  same  way,  but  turns  and  twists,  crop- 
ping up  to  the  surface  and  dipping  down  again  in  all  sorts  of 
curious  and  perplexing  ways.  In  planing  them  the  wood  is 


FIG.  628. 


FIG.  629. 


likely  to  be  continually  chipping  or  tearing  and  breaking  off 
below  the  surface,  instead  of  planing  smoothly  like  a  piece  of 
straight-grained  pine,  leaving  dents  and  rough  hollows  over  the 
surface.  The  natural  tendency  of  the  plane-iron  is  to  split  the 
wood  in  front  of  the  iron  in  such  cases  (Fig.  628).  To  remedy 


45  2          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


this  the  plane  has  a  double  iron.  An  iron  or  cap  with  a  dull 
edge  is  screwed  on  to  the  face  of  the  cutting-iron  (Fig.  629) 
so  as  to  help  bend  and  break  off  the  shavings  before  the  split 

gets     fairly     started    (Fig.    630), 
'when  the  iron  can  cut  it  smoothly 
off.     The   thickness  of  the  shav- 
ings is  greatly  exaggerated  in  the 
cuts  for  the  sake  of  illustration. 
The  cutting  edge  is  said  to  have 
lead  "  in  proportion  to  the  dis- 
FIG.  630.  tance  it  is  in  advance  of  the  cap- 

iron.  The  cap  can  be  set  some  little  distance  from  the  edge  for 
the  jack-plane,  as  far  as  an  eighth  of  an  inch,  but  with  the  fore- 
plane  and  smoothing-plane  it  must  be  set  quite  close  to  the  edge, 
the  distance  varying  according  to  the  character  of  the  wood.  The 
more  crooked  or  cross-grained  the  wood,  the  nearer  the  dull  iron 
is  brought  down  towards  the  edge  of  the  sharp  one.  The  nearer 
the  edge,  the  smoother  the  result,  but  the  harder  to  work  the  plane. 
Something  more  than  the  break-iron  is  required,  however,  to 
insure  breaking  the  shavings.  There  must  be  an  angle,  against 
which  they  can  be  broken,  close  in  front  of  the  cutting  edge  and 
above  the  shaving.  This  angle  is  the  forward  edge  of  the  mouth 
or  slot  in  the  sole 
through  which  the 
iron  projects  (Fig. 
631).  Thus  the 
width  of  the 
mouth  makes  a 
difference  in  the 
smoothness  of  the 
surface,  for  a 
narrow  mouth  is 


FIG.  631. 


necessary  to  ensure  the  shaving  being  readily  broken  by  the  cap. 
With  a  wide  mouth,  the  shaving  will  not  be  broken  by  the  cap  in 
time,  because  there  is  no  corner  against  which  to  break  it. 


Tools  and  Operations  453 

With  straight-grained  wood  this  does  not  make  so  much  differ- 
ence, but  with  crooked  and  broken  grain  narrowness  of  mouth  is 
quite  essential  to  a  smooth  surface,  provided  that  the  opening  is 
wide  enough  to  allow  the  shaving  to  pass  through  freely.  Rough 
and  knotty  wood  requires  the  mouth  very  narrow  and  the  iron 
set  very  fine  (/.  e.,  projecting  but  very  little  from  the  sole)  and 
the  cap  quite  near  the  edge. 

The  modern  iron  planes  have  simple  appliances  for  setting  or 
adjusting  the  projection  of  the  iron  from  the  sole  and  thus  regu- 
lating the  thickness  of  the  shaving.  If,  however,  you  are  obliged 
to  use  the  old-fashioned  wooden  planes,  you  raise  the  iron 
in  the  same  way  that  you  loosen  it  for  removal,  by  lightly 
tapping  on  the  top  of  the  fore  end  of  the  stock,  keeping  hold  of 
the  plane  with  the  left  hand  so  as  to  prevent  the  iron  falling 
through  if  loosened  too  much.  When  the  iron  is  raised  enough, 
fix  it  in  place  by  tapping  on  top  of  the  "  chip  "  (Fig.  621,  <?)  or 
wedge  which  holds  it  in  place.  To  lower  the  cutting  edge,  loosen 
as  before  and,  checking  the  edge  with  the  finger,  let  it  project  the 
required  distance,  which  you  can  tell  about  by  looking  along  the 
sole  (Fig.  632),  and  fix  in  place  by  tapping  the  "chip"  as  before. 
This  is  the  process  used  in  removing  the  iron  for  sharpening  and 
replacing  it,  the  chip  being  removed  as  well  as  the  iron.  Any 
carpenter  will  show  you  the  operation.  Always  hold  the  plane  in 
the  left  hand  in  all  these  adjusting  operations.  Do  not  strike  or 
tap  any  part  of  it  while  it  rests  on  the  bench  or  on  anything  solid. 

To  smooth  a  rough  piece  of  wood,  use  first  the  jack-plane,  to 
remove  the  rough  surface  and  superfluous  wood,  and  then  the 
fore-plane,  to  straighten  and  smooth  the  surface.  If  there  is  no 
need  to  have  the  surface  true,  but  only  smooth,  you  can  omit 
using  the  fore-plane  and  follow  the  jack-plane  at  once  by  the 
smoothing-plane.  With  ordinary  machine-planed  stock  you  do 
not  usually  need  the  jack-plane,  though  it  is  sometimes  useful  in 
reducing  a  piece  of  wood  to  a  given  shape. 

Before  beginning  to  plane,  see  that  all  dirt  or  grit  which  might 
dull  the  tool  is  brushed  from  the  surface. 


454          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


Turn  the  plane  over  and  sight  along  the  sole  (Fig.  632),  not 
merely  to  see  that  the  iron  projects  to  the  required  degree,  but 
also  to  see  that  it  projects  equally,  lest  one  side  or  corner  of  the 

iron  should  cut  more 
deeply  than  the  other, 
and  thus  make  a  groove 
or  scratch  on  the  wood 
(Fig.  633).  The  latest 
iron  planes  have  appli- 
ances to  adjust  any  in- 
equality of  this  sort, 
but  if  your  plane  is  not 
so  arranged  a  little  tap- 
ping on  one  side  of  the 
upper  end  of  the  iron 
will  correct  the 
trouble.  Try  the  plane 
on  a  waste  piece  before 
beginning  on  nice 


FIG.  632. 


work. 


Plane  with  the  grain,  as  a  rule,  and  the  fibres  will  be  cut  off 
cleanly  where  they  crop  up  to  the  surface  and  your  work  will  be 
left  smooth.  If  you  plane  against  the  grain,  some  of  the  fibres 
will  tend  to  splinter  or  chip  off  just  below  the  surface  before  they 
are  cut  off  (Fig.  634). 

Stand  behind  the  work  with  the  plane  before  you.  Plane 
with  the  arms  (and  from  the  shoulder),  not  with 
the  whole  body.  Try  to  shove  the  plane  straight 
ahead,  also  to  plane  as  equally  and  evenly  as  pos- 
sible over  the  surface;  for  while  it  is  comparatively 
easy  to  get  a  surface  smooth  it  is  quite  another 
thing  to  keep  it  true  or  to  make  it  true  if  warped 
or  winding.  FG-  633- 

The  natural  tendency,  and  a  common  fault,  is  to  begin  and 
end  the  stroke  as  shown  in  Fig.  635.  Rolling  the  body  back  and 


Tools  and  Operations 


455 


FlG.  634> 


forth,  instead  of  pushing  steadily  with  the  arms  from  the  shoulder, 
aggravates  this  trouble.  The  result  of  this  way  (which  is  uncon- 
scious at  first)  is  that  the  surface  after  planing  is  apt  to  be  as 
shown  in  Fig. 
636.  To  prevent  .p 

this,  press  down 
with  the  left  hand 
on  the  forward 
part  of  the  plane 
during  the  first 
part  of  the 
stroke,  and  with 
the  right  hand 
on  the  rear  part 
of  the  plane  dur- 
ing the  last  part 
of  the  stroke  (Fig. 

637). 

In  planing  wood  which  is  dirty  or  rough,  it  is  best  to  lift  the 

plane  from  the  work  when  drawing  it  back  for  a  fresh  stroke,  or 

to  draw  it  back  so  that  only  the  point  touches  the  board,  or  to 

jf  ^        draw  it  back  on  edge, 

1^1  j^  but  in  planing  small 

surfaces  of  clean 
wood  it  is  not  usually 
worth  while  to  take 
this  precaution. 

In  planing  pieces 
with  crooked  grain, 
turn  the  piece  when 
practicable,  so  as  to 
plane  as  much  of  it 
FlG-  637-  wjth  the  grain  as  you 

can.     But  many  pieces  are  so  crooked  in  grain  that  you  cannot 
do  this.     So  at  times  it  is  well  to  turn  your  plane  sideways  to  get 


FIG.  635. 


FIG.  636. 


D 


456          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

a  slicing  cut  and  cross  the  grain  at  an  angle  (Fig.  638) ;  but  as  a 
rule  the  plane  should  be  pushed  straight  forward. 

A  few  drops  of  oil  rubbed  over  the  face  of  the  plane  will  make 

it   run  more  smoothly,  par- 
ticularly on  hard  wood. 

Test  the  accuracy  of  your 
planing  of  broad  surfaces 
w  i  t  h  a  straight-edge,  the 
blade  of  a  square,  or  the 
edge  of  the  plane  itself  (if 
straight).  By  applying  such  a  straight-edge  across  the  surface 
or  lengthways  or  diagonally  you  can  tell  whether  your  work  is 
straight  and  true  (Fig.  639).  Also  "  sight  "  with  your  eye.  If 
the  surface  is  large  or  long,  winding-sticks  can  be  used  (see 
Winding- sticks).  In  planing  edges  test  lengthways  with  the  eye 
and  straight-edge  of  some  sort,  and  crossways  by  applying  the 
try-square  (Fig.  640).  (See  pointing.) 

It  is,  of  course,  harder  to  plane  a  broad  surface,  as  the  side  of 


FIG.  638. 


FIG.  639. 

a  board,  than  a  narrow  one,  as  the  edge.  When  planing  a  flat 
surface,  as  a  board,  be  careful  not  to  plane  off  more  at  the  edges 
than  elsewhere  (Fig.  641),  as  you  will  be  quite  likely  to  do  if 


Tools  and  Operations 


457 


you  allow  the  plane  to  tip  sideways  over  the  edge  instead  of 
keeping  the  sole  parallel  with  the  flat  surface. 

When  planing  across  end-grain  with  the  block-plane  or  smooth- 


FIG.  640. 

ing-plane,  either  secure  a  waste  piece  of  wood  at  the  side  where 
the  planing  ends,  to  prevent  the  edge  chipping  off,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  642,  or  plane  from  both  edges  toward  the  middle  (Fig.  643). 
The  use  of  the  straight-edge  will  give  the  necessary  clue  to  the 
process  of  making  warped  surfaces  true.  (See  Truing  Surfaces.} 


FIG.  641.  FIG.  642. 

Whenever  you  make  nice  articles  from  wood  planed  by  an 
ordinary  cylinder  planer,  the  wood  will  seem  quite  smooth  just 
as  it  is,  but  do  not  neglect  to  smooth  it  carefully  so  as  to  take 


45$          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


out  all  the  "  planer-marks  "  or  those  little  corrugations  across 
the  grain  left  by  the  machine  will  often  show  clear  across  the 
room  as  soon  as  the  work  is  finished.  See 
pages  44,  45,  and  46,  and  also  Sharpen- 
ing. 

Planing. — See  Plane,  Jointing,  Truing 
Surfaces. 

Plank,  Laying. — See  Boards,   Laying. 
FIG.  643  Plough.-See  Plane. 

Plumb. — You  can  make  a  plumb-line  by  merely  hanging  any 
weight  at  the  end  of  a  cord,  when  the  cord  will  of  course  be 
vertical  as  soon  as  it  stops  swinging  (Fig.  644).  For  convenience 
in  using  hang  the  cord  on  a  board  as  shown  in  Fig.  130.  When 
the  cord  hangs  exactly  on  the  line  or  at  the  apex  of  the  notch  the 
edge  of  the  board  will  be  vertical. 

A  long  board  will  give  a  more  accurate  test  than  a  short  one  in 
most  cases,  just  as  a  long 
plane  will  make  a  straighter 
edge  than  a  short  plane,  for 
the  long  board  will  bridge 
over  the  irregularities  of 
the  surface  to  be  plumbed. 
For  example,  to  take  an  ex- 
aggerated case,  the  post 
plumbed  as  at  a  (Fig.  645) 
is  vertical,  taken  as  a 
whole;  while  the  same  post 

plumbed    as   at   £    leans  a  b 

,  .  FIG.  644.  FIG.  645.  FIG.  646. 

over,   because    the  short 

board  happens  to  be  placed  where  the  surface  of  the  post  is  not 
straight. 

When  the  plumb-line  is  used  to  determine  a  point  exactly  over 
or  under  another  point,  as  in  surveying,  the  bob  is  shaped  with  a 


Tools  and  Operations  459 

point  like  a  top  (Fig.  646).     For  making  the  plumb,  see  page  96. 
(See  also  Level,} 

Pod- Bit.— See  Bits. 

Punch  (for  Nails).— See  Nail-set. 

Putty.— Common  putty  is  (or  should  be)  a  mixture  of  linseed 
oil  and  whiting  of  about  the  consistency  of  dough.  A  mixture  of 
white  lead  worked  in  with  the  whiting  is,  however,  superior  for 
some  purposes,  and  is  better  when  but  one  coat  of  paint  is  to 
be  put  on  after  the  puttying.  To  colour  putty,  stir  the  colouring 
matter  in  a  little  oil  and  then  work  and  knead  it  into  the  putty 
until  the  whole  is  coloured.  Keep  putty  under  water.  Do  not 
leave  it  wrapped  in  the  paper  in  which  you  may  take  it  from  the 
painter's,  for  the  oil  will  be  absorbed  by  the  paper  and  the  putty 
will  quickly  become  dry  and  hard.  Use  a  square-bladed  putty- 
knife  for  flat  surfaces,  and  do  not  use  your  fingers.  See  also 
Holes,  To  Stop. 

Putty-Knife. — An  old  case-knife  can  be  used  (better  if  re 
shaped  squarely  across  or  to  an  obtuse  angle),  or,  in  fact,  any 
knife,  but  a  regular  putty-knife  is  best. 

Quill-Bit.— See  Bits. 

Rabbet. — A  rabbet  is  a  recess  or  rectangular  groove  cut 
lengthways  in  the  edge  of  a  piece  of  board,  plank,  or  other 
timber  (Fig.  284).  It  is  usually  better  for  the  amateur  to  get 
such  work  done  at  a  mill,  when  practicable,  rather  than  to  do  it 
by  hand.  The  rabbet-plane  is,  however,  a  very  useful  tool  to 
have.  In  some  cases,  as  at  the  end  of  a  piece,  the  saw  can  be 
used,  the  lines  for  the  rabbet  having  been  carefully  marked  with 
a  knife  or  chisel.  The  chisel  can  also  be  used  to  make  a  rabbet, 
much  as  in  cutting  a  mortise,  taking  pains  when  driving  the  chisel 
down  next  the  line  not  to  cut  under  or  jam  the  wood  beyond  the 
line.  In  the  final  trimming  to  the  line,  the  chisel  should  be  held 
with  the  flat  side  toward  the  line.  In  removing  the  wood  with 
the  chisel,  it  is  often  best  to  pare  across  the  grain  rather  than 
with  it  (see  Paring), 


460          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

A  stiip  of  wood  can  be  clamped  across  the  piece  exactly  on  the 
line  as  a  guide  for  the  saw  and  the  sawing  be  done  with  the  heel 
or  rear  corner  of  the  saw,  keeping  the  latter  close  up  to  the  gauge 
stick,  and  pieces  are  sometimes  even  clamped  to  the  saw  itself  to 
guide  it,  but  such  arrangements,  though  useful  expedients  under 
some  circumstances,  are  hardly  the  most  workmanlike  methods. 

Rabbet-Plane.— See  Plane. 

Rasp. — The  rasp — only  used  for  wood — is  a  sort  of  coarse  file, 
but  instead  of  ridge-like  teeth  it  is  studded  with  projecting  points, 
which  tear  off  the  wood  more  quickly,  but  also  more  roughly, 
than  the  file.  It  is  extremely  useful  to  remove  surplus  wood  and 
to  get  curved  objects  roughly  into  shape.  One  good-sized  half- 
round  (or  "  slab-sided  ")  rasp  will  be  a  great  help.  See  File. 

Rasping. — See  Filing. 
Reamers. — See  Bits. 

Repairing  Furniture. —  To  repair  thoroughly  —  to  make 
things  as  strong  as  when  new  and  to  leave  no  sign  of  the  mend- 
ing—  often  requires  more  skill  and  ingenuity  and  more  general 
knowledge  of  wood-working  than  to  make  new  articles.  Skill  in 
repairing  comes  not  merely  from  general  knowledge  of  wood- 
working, but  from  experience  and  ingenuity  in  applying  your 
knowledge  to  new  problems.  You  will  rarely  have  two  jobs  of 
repairing  just  alike,  even  if  of  the  same  kind,  and  the  variety  is 
almost  endless.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  to  give  rules  to  cover 
all  the  different  cases.  In  fact,  to  attempt  to  give  complete 
directions  for  repairing  would  be  to  describe  the  majority  of  opera- 
tions used  in  wood-working,  and  the  reader  is  referred  to  other 
parts  of  the  book  for  whatever  information  it  may  contain.  Sug- 
gestions on  one  or  two  points  may,  however,  be  of  use. 

Suppose  the  arm  of  a  chair  comes  off,  after  having  been  stuck 
on  with  glue  perhaps  a  dozen  times.  How  is  it  usually  mended 
each  time  it  comes  off  ?  The  family  glue-pot,  containing  the 
dregs  of  all  the  glue  used  since  it  was  bought,  is  put  on  the  stove, 


Tools  and  Operations 


461 


a  little  water  poured  in,  and  as  soon  as  the  glue  gets  warmed  into 
a  thick  paste  a  lot  of  it  is  daubed  on  to  the  joints,  on  top  of  the 
thick  coating  they  already  have,  and  the  arm  pushed  as  nearly 
into  place  as  it  will  go.  It  is  then  usually  left  for  a  few  hours 
and  sometimes  even  tied  on  with  a  string  while  the  glue  dries. 
Of  course  it  sticks  for  a  while  and  then  the  usual  result  follows. 

Now  how  should  you  go  to  work  to  do  this  properly  ?  First 
clean  off  all  the  old  glue.  This  is  important.  You  want  to  put 
the  fresh  glue  on  the  wood,  not  on  top  of  the  old  glue  ;  but  do 
not  scrape  away  the  wood  in  getting  off  the  glue  so  that  the  parts 
will  no  longer  fit.  Next,  see  whether  the  pieces  will  fit  together 
as  they  should.  If  they  will,  then  contrive  some  way  to  clamp 
them  in  place  while  the  glue  is  drying.  Sometimes  hand-screws 
will  do  this,  sometimes  clamps,  sometimes  a  rope  twisted,  and 
often  it  will  take  all  your  ingenuity  to  contrive  any  arrangement, 
but  clamped  they  must  be  if  you  wish  to  be  sure  of  a  good  job. 

The  pieces  often  make  an  angle  with  one  another,  or  are 
curved,  so  that  the 
clamps  or  hand-screws 
will  not  hold,  but  slip  as 
fast  as  you  tighten  them. 
In  such  a  case  the 
method  shown  in  Fig. 
647  can  often  be  used. 
Screwahand-screw  firmly 
on  each  side  of  the  joint, 
rubbing  chalk  on  the 
insides  of  the  jaws  to 
help  prevent  slipping, 
and  putting  on  the  hand- 
screws  so  that  the  jaws 
will  be  parallel.  Then, 

by  using  two  other  hand-screws,  those  first  put  on  can  be  drawn 
towards  one  another  and  the  joint  firmly  closed.  Then  proceed  to 
glue  the  parts  as  with  new  work.  For  the  way  to  do  this  see  Gluing. 


FIG.  647. 


462          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

In  patching  old  work  with  new  wood,  pains  should  be  taken  to 
have  the  wood  match  as  well  as  possible,  and,  as  a  rule,  pare  or 
trim  the  new  pieces  after  they  are  glued  in  place  rather  than  be- 
fore. Staining  to  match  the  older  parts  is  often  required  (see 
Staining}.  See  also  Holes,  To  Stop. 

The  repaired  joint  may  never  be  quite  as  strong  as  a  new  one, 
therefore  it  is  well  to  reinforce  it  with  a  block  glued  and  screwed 
on  the  under  or  inner  side,  in  cases  where  this  can  be  done  with- 
out injuring  the  appearance,  as  inside  of  the  frame  under  a  chair, 
sofa,  or  table. 

It  is  not  uncommon,  particularly  in  work  which  has  come  apart 
several  times,  for  the  tenons  to  be  too  small.  If  you  can  glue  on 
thin  pieces  to  make  the  tenon  larger,  trimming  them  afterwards 
to  fit,  it  will  be  the  best  way;  but  if  the  conditions  do  not  admit 
of  this,  a  little  muslin,  laid  in  glue,  can  sometimes  be  wrapped 
around  the  tenon  as  the  latter  is  fitted  to  place.  The  same  can 
sometimes  be  done  with  round  pins  or  dowels.  The  expedient  of 
splitting  and  wedging  tenons  and  dowels  can  often  be  applied  in 
repairing  (see  Mortising  and  Dowels}. 

Sometimes  you  may  find  it  necessary  to  use  screws  in  places 
where  the  heads  will  show.  In  such  cases  first  make,  when  pos- 
sible, a  neat  round  or  square  hole  with  bit  or  chisel  of  sufficient 
diameter  to  admit  the  head  of  the  screw  and  deep  enough  to  allow 
a  shallow  plug  to  be  inserted  after  the  screw  has  been  set  (see 
Holes,  To  Stop).  The  hardest  part  in  finished  work  is  to  make 
the  patch  match  the  rest  of  the  work. 

See  also  Gluing,  Clamps,  and  whatever  other  operations  may  be 
required. 

Ripping-Saw. — See  Saw. 

Rivets. — In  heading  rivets  hold  another  hammer  or  piece  of 
metal,  or  have  someone  else  do  so,  against  the  head  of  the  rivet 
while  upsetting  the  other  end. 

Rounding  Sticks. — It  is  often  required  to  round  sticks  for 
poles,  masts,  spars,  arrows,  and  a  great  many  other  purposes. 


Tools  and  Operations  463 

First  plane  the  piece  until  it  is  as  nearly  square,  in  section,  as 
you  can  make  it.  Then  use  the  form  shown  on  page  95, 
which  will  hold  the  squared  stick  firmly  while  you  plane  off  the 
corners,  making  it  eight-sided.  Be  careful  not  to  plane  the  cor- 
ners off  too  much,  for  the  eight  sides  of  the  stick  should  be  as 
nearly  alike  as  possible.  Next,  if  the  stick  is  large  enough,  plane 
off  each  of  the  eight  corners  so  that  it  will  be  sixteen -sided. 
This  is  about  as  far  as  you  can  go  in  this  way,  unless  the  stick  is 
very  large.  Set  the  plane  quite  fine  for  taking  off  these  corners 
or  you  may  plane  off  too  much  before  you  know  it.  The  rest  of 
the  rounding  you  must  do  with  light,  fine  strokes,  testing  by  eye 
and  by  passing  your  hand  over  the  work  (for  you  can  judge  a 
great  deal  by  the  sense  of  touch).  The  rasp  and  file  can  often 
be  used  to  good  advantage.  The  spokeshave  is  good  for  the  final 
smoothing,  followed  by  the  scraper  or  glass  (both  of  which  can 
be  curved)  and  sandpaper.  The  latter  can  be  used  crosswise  as 
well  as  lengthwise.  Cut  it  in  strips  and  pull  it  back  and  forth 
around  the  stick,  much  as  bootblacks  put 
the  final  polish  on  shoes  with  a  strip  of 
cloth  (Fig.  648). 

To  hold  large  sticks  for  this  final  shap- 
ing and  smoothing  you  can  put  them  in 
the  vise,  but  if  there  are  several,  and 
large,  it  is  better  to  contrive  some  way  to 
hold  them  after  the  fashion  of  the  centres 
of  a  lathe.  For  one  centre,  drive  a  nail 
or  screw  through  a  block  or  stick  of  wood 
and  screw  the  block  in  the  vise  (Fig.  649).  Make  the  other 
centre  in  the  same  way  and  fasten  it  at  such  a  distance  from  the 
first  centre  that  the  stick  will  just  fit  in  between  the  two.  Just 
how  to  fasten  this  second  centre  will  depend  on  the  length  of  the 
stick  to  be  rounded  and  the  arrangements  of  your  shop,  but  you 
can  easily  contrive  some  way  to  hold  it.  The  stick  held  between 
these  centres  will  be  clear  of  everything  and  can  be  turned 
around  without  trouble.  The  middle  can  be  supported,  if 


464          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


necessary,  by  a  piece  of  board  or  a  strip  lightly  nailed  to  the 
bench-top. 

Masts  and  spars  should  be  "  natural  sticks,"  if  possible,  and 
the  final  shaping  and  smoothing  will  be  all  they  will  require,  for 
which  some  such  apparatus  as  that  just  described  will  save  time 
and  trouble. 

To  round  small  sticks,  as  spars  for  model  boats,  arrows,  etc., 


FIG.  649. 

the  same  process  should  be  followed  so  far  as  the  small  size  of  the 
sticks  will  allow,  as  you  can  of  course  shave  more  accurately  with 
the  plane,  on  account  of  the  long  guiding  sole,  for  the  same  degree 
of  effort,  than  with  any  "  free-hand  "  tool  like  the  knife.  But 
when  the  stick  is  quite  small  it  is  hard  to  hold  it  firmly,  and  it  is 
also  too  much  covered  by  the  plane.  In  such  cases  turn  Japanese. 
Fasten  the  plane  bottom-up  in  the  vise  (or  even  hold  it  in  your 
lap  if  you  have  no  vise)  and  pull  the  stick  along  the  sole  of  the 
plane  instead  of  pushing  the  plane  over  the  stick.  But  look  out 
for  your  fingers  when  you  do  this,  for  a  plane-iron  in  this  position 
has  a  great  appetite  for  finger-tips. 

In  filing  a  short,  round  stick,  one  end  can  often  be  rested  on  the 
bench  and  the  stick  turned  around  towards  you  as  you  file. 

A  good  way  to  finish  the  shaping  of  such  small  sticks  is  to  hold 
your  knife  with  the  edge  downward  close  against  the  side  of  your 
leg  just  above  the  knee.  Then  pull  the  stick  up  steadily  between 
your  leg  and  the  knife.  The  leg  acts  as  a  sort  of  gauge  to  steady 
both  the  stick  and  the  knife  and  with  care  you  can  cut  a  very 
even  shaving  in  this  way. 

One  very  important  thing  to  bear  in  mind  in  all  these  rounding 


Tools  and  Operations  465 

operations  is  that  you  will  rarely  find  wood  with  absolutely  straight 
grain,  except  in  "  rift  "  stock  or  natural  sticks  (and  in  these  there 
are  often  seemingly  unaccountable  twists  and  crooked  streaks); 
so  you  need  to  keep  constant  watch  of  the  direction  of  the  grain, 
for  even  a  slight  turn  of  the  stick  will  often  bring  the  grain  wrong 
with  relation  to  your  tool,  and  one  false  cut  running  in  too  deep, 
or  even  across  the  stick,  will  spoil  the  work. 

Router. — See  Plane. 

Rule. — A  rule  with  which  to  lay  out  your  work  and  measure 
your  stock  is  one  of  the  first  tools  of  which  you  can  make  use.  A 
two-foot  rule,  folding  once,  is  the  most  convenient  for  shop-work, 
but  the  more  common  kind,  folding  to  six  inches  in  length,  is  more 
convenient  to  carry  around  away  from  the  shop.  One  brass- 
bound  (with  brass  edges)  is  more  durable,  but  hardly  as  con- 
venient to  use  as  the  common  cheap  kind,  which  will  answer  every 
purpose  until  it  breaks. 

To  mark  distances  with  the  rule  for  accurate  work,  lay  the  rule 
on  edge  so  that  the  di- 
visions marked  on  it  will 
touch  the  wood  and  not  be 
an  eighth  of  an  inch  above 
it,  as  they  are  when  the 
rule  lies  flat  (Fig.  650). 
You  can  thus  mark  the 
points  more  accurately.  ~G  , 

Sandpaper. — The  fineness  of  sandpaper  is  indicated  by  num- 
bers— oo  (the  finest),  o,  |,  i,  i|,  2,  2$,  and  3  (the  coarsest).  You 
will  use  the  fine  and  medium  numbers  more  than  the  very  coarse 
ones,  and  will  seldom  require  coarser  than  i-J.  Test  sandpaper, 
when  buying,  by  rubbing  the  sand  a  little  with  your  hand  to  see 
if  it  is  securely  stuck  on,  and  tear  the  paper  a  little  to  see  if  it  is 
strong. 

Never  use  sandpaper  until  all  the  cutting  with  the  tools  is  done. 
30 


466          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Sandpaper  with  the  grain,  except  for  work  which  is  to  be  painted. 
The  proper  use  of  sandpaper,  as  a  rule,  for  such  work  as  you 
will  do,  is  merely  to  give  a  little  extra  smoothness,  to  take  out 
little  scratches,  to  round  edges,  and  the  like,  but  not  to  cut  away 
the  wood  and  scrub  it  into  the  shape  you  wish.  To  use  it  much, 
except  to  skim  over  your  work,  is  apt  to  get  you  into  a  slovenly 
style  of  working,  and  the  result  will  lack  the  sharp  accuracy  of 
good  work.  Do  not  rely  on  the  sandpaper  to  remove  the  defects 
in  your  work.  Do  the  work  right  and  you  will  need  but  little 
sandpaper,  except  in  a  few  operations  which  will  be  specified 
when  there  is  occasion. 

For  flat  surfaces  it  is  well  to  fold  the  sandpaper  over  a  flat 
block  of  cork  or  wood  (Fig.  651),  the  edges 
of  which  have  been  slightly  rounded.  If 
the  surface  is  curved,  the  block  should  be 
curved  correspondingly.  A  piece  of  thick 
rubber  or  leather  which  can  be  bent  to  fit 
the  surface  is  excellent.  Care  should  be 

taken  not  to  round  the  corners  and  edges  of  the  work  when  sand- 
papering. 

In  sandpapering  any  very  delicate  piece  of  work,  when  the  edge 
might  get  rounded  or  the  surface  scratched  by  the  stiffness  of 
even  the  finest  sandpaper,  as  in  rubbing  down  finished  work,  split 
the  paper,  which  you  can  easily  do  by  removing  the  outer  layer 
of  paper  from  the  back,  when  the  remaining  part  to  which  the 
sand  adheres  will  be  much  softer  and  more  flexible. 

Saw. — Saws  are  used  for  cutting  across  the  grain  and  with  the 
grain  and  there  are  various  kinds  for  special  purposes. 

The  cross-cutting  saw  is  used,  as  the  name  indicates,  for  cutting 
across  the  grain  of  wood  and  for  ordinary  work.  The  blade  is 
usually  thicker  at  the  teeth  than  at  the  back,  to  stiffen  it  and  to 
enable  it  to  pass  through  the  wood  more  freely.  From  18*  to  24" 
is  a  good  length  for  a  cross-cutting  saw  (or  more  commonly  called 
panet-sa.w)  for  your  work,  with  about  eight  to  ten  teeth  to  the 
inch. 


Tools  and  Operations  467 

Examine  the  teeth  (Fig.  652)  and  you  will  see  that  they  are 
pointed  and  sharp,  somewhat  like  the  point  of  your  knife,  and  that 
they  cut  across  the  fibres  much  the  same  as  your  knife  does  when 
you  hold  it  upright  and  draw  it  across  a  board. 

You  will  notice,  also,  that  the  teeth  are  alternately  bent  out- 
wards,— one  tooth  being  bent  out  to  one  side,  the  next  to  the 


FIG.  652.  FIG.  653. 

other  side, — this  spreading  of  the  teeth  (which  is  called  the 
"  set  ")  making  the  saw  wider  at  the  points  of  the  teeth  than  else- 
where. You  will  also  notice  that  the  sharp  cutting  edge  of  each 
tooth  is  on  the  outside.  This  set,  and  the  way  the  teeth  are 
sharpened,  makes  the  cut  wider  than  the  thickness  of  the  blade, 
thus  giving  the  saw  "  clearance  "  and  enabling  it  to  slip  back  and 
forth  easily  and  without  "binding"  (Fig.  653).  As  a  practical 
matter  of  fact,  however,  it  is  nothing  uncommon  for  a  saw  to  bind 
in  the  cut,  either  from  not  sawing  straight  or  from  the  wood  clos- 
ing on  the  saw  (see  Fig.  695).  The  teeth  not  only  cut  or  break 
off  the  fibres  in  parallel  lines  at  the  points  of  the  teeth,  but  also 
tear  off  and  remove  the  bits  of  wood  (/.  e.,  the  sawdust)  between 
these  parallel  cuts. 

The  degree  to  which  the  teeth  are  set  and  the  number  of  teeth 
to  the  inch  depend  upon  the  use  to  which  the  saw  is  to  be  put 
and  the  kind  of  wood  to  be  used.  Of  course  the  finer  the  teeth 
the  smoother  the  cut.  Cross-cut  saws  are  usually  sharpened 
differently  for  soft  and  for  hard  wood,  but  little  set  being  required 
for  the  latter,  while  the  former  needs  a  wider  set  to  give  the  blade 
clearance,  because  the  fibres  of  the  looser-textured  soft  wood  are 
bent  aside  by  the  tearing  action  of  the  saw  teeth  and  are  not  so 
cleanly  cut  off  as  in  the  hard  wood. 

We  have  examined  the  teeth  of  the  cross-cut  saw  and  have  seen 
that  they  cut  across  the  grain  of  the  wood  very  much  as  the  point 


468          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

and  edge  of  a  knife,  and  that  the  fibres,  being  cut  or  broken  or  torn 
off  in  fine  pieces,  are  removed  from  the  kerf  by  the  teeth.  Now  to 
saw  in  the  direction  of  the  grain,  instead  of  across  it,  we  use  a  saw 
based  on  a  different  principle.  As  we  used  little  knives  to  cut 
across  the  grain,  so  we  use  little  chisels  to  cut  with  the  grain. 
Look  at  the  teeth  of  the  ripping-saw  and  you  will  see  that  they 
are  little  chisels  sharp  only  at  the  end  (Fig.  654),  though  not  as 
acute  as  chisels  for  obvious  reasons.  These  sharp  ends,  which 
are  square  (Fig.  655,  showing  set)  or  may  be  oblique,  cut  or  tear 


FIG  654. 


FIG.  655. 


FIG.  656. 


off  the  fibres,  and  the  front  edges  of  the  teeth  push  the  pieces  out 
of  the  cut.  The  teeth  of  the  cross-cut  saw  are  filed  so  that  the 
front  cutting-edge  is  drawn  across  the  wood  in  the  most  effective 
way,  much  as  you  would  draw  the  knife-point  across,  while  the 
teeth  of  the  ripping-saw  are  pointed  forward  at  a  more  acute 
angle  so  that  the  cutting-edge  is  pushed  through  the  wood,  some- 
what as  you  push  a  chisel. 

The  ripping-saw  cuts  only  on  the  down  stroke.  It  is  not  suit- 
able for  use  directly  across  the  grain,  as  it  tears  the  fibres  when 
pushed  across  them  much  more  than  the  cross-cut  saw.  The 
ripping-saw  usually  has  larger  teeth  than  the  cross-cut  saw.  From 
5^  to  8  points  to  the  inch  will  do  for  your  work.  The  ripping- 
saw  usually  cuts  best  when  held  slanting  rather  than  at  right 
angles  with  the  board  (Fig.  656),  as  you  can  easily  understand 
when  you  think  how  a  chisel  works  best  in  paring  at  the  end  of 
a  board. 

If  the  cut  closes  up  after  the  saw  so  as  to  "  bind  '    it,  drive  a 


Tools  and  Operations  469 

wedge  (or  even  a  screw-driver  or  chisel)  into  the  crack  so  as  to 
open  it  enough  for  the  saw  to  work  freely.  Binding  of  the  saw 
from  this  cause  is  very  common  in  making  long  cuts.  When  you 
come  to  a  hard  knot  in  splitting  you  can  sometimes  gain  by  taking 
the  cross-cut  saw  to  cut  through  it. 

You  will  probably  get  most  of  your  splitting  done  at  a  mill  and 
will  not  have  to  depend  on  hand  ripping-saws  so  much  as  your 
grandfathers  did. 

The  back-saw  should  have,  for  your  use,  from  10  to  16  teeth  to 
the  inch  and  be  perhaps  12  inches  long.  The  blade  is  very  thin 
to  insure  a  finer  and  more  accurate  cut  than  can  be  made  with 
the  common  saw,  and  therefore  requires  care  in  using.  It  has  a 
back  (whence  the  name)  made  of  a  thin  piece  of  brass  or  iron 
put  on  so  as  to  give  the  blade  the  necessary  firmness. 

This  is  an  exceedingly  useful  tool,  with  which  and  a  common 
panel  saw  you  can  do  a  great  deal  of  work  without  any  other. 
The  back-saw  must  be  used  with  care,  for  the  blade  is  so  thin 
that  a  little  wrenching  will  spring  it  out  of  shape  in  spite  of  the 
strengthening  back. 

In  the  compass-saw  the  blade  is  very  narrow,  being  about  one 
inch  at  the  broadest  part  and  diminishing  gradually  to  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  at  the  other  end.  It  is  about  fifteen  inches 
long  and  is  employed  in  cutting  curved  forms.  As  the  blade  is 
narrow  and  tapers  towards  the  back  and  the  teeth  have  a  wide 
set  it  will  cut  a  small  circle.  Notice  that  the  teeth  of  the  com- 
pass-saw are  a  sort  of  a  compromise  between  those  of  the  ripping 
and  cross-cut  saws,  which  enables  them  to  cut  freely  either  way  of 
the  grain,  as  is  of  course  necessary  in  sawing  curves. 

The  turning-  or  bow-saw  is  much  better  for  any  work  with  which 
the  bow  will  not  interfere,  and  is  a  very  useful  tool  at  times.  Get 
one  with  handles  which  turn  so  that  the  blade  can  be  turned  to 
saw  at  an  angle  with  the  frame.  You  will  need  a  few  extra  blades 
of  different  widths.  The  main  thing  to  be  borne  in  mind  is  to 
make  the  cut  square  with  the  surface.  It  is  easier  to  follow  the 
line  than  to  secure  a  cut  at  right  angles  to  the  surface, 


470  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

The  keyhole- saw,  which  is  even  smaller  than  the  compass-saw, 
is  used  for  cutting  quicker  curves,  as  for  a  keyhole.  It  has  a 
handle  like  that  of  a  chisel,  with  a  slot  cut  through  from  end  to 
end.  There  is  a  screw  on  one  side,  so  that  the  blade  may  be 
fixed  at  any  length,  according  to  the  size  of  the  hole  to  be  cut 


FIG.  657. 

A  good  kind,  which  can  be  used  for  both  compass-  and  keyhole- 
saws,  has  a  handle  into  which  various  blades  can  be  fitted. 

Compass-  and  keyhole-saws  are  difficult  for  beginners  to  use 
without  bending,  twisting,  or  breaking  their  thin  and  narrow 
blades.  Most  of  your  curved  sawing  can  be  done  better  with  a 
turning-saw  or  at  a  mill  by  a  band-  or  jig-saw.  If  done  at  the 
mill,  have  a  piece  of  waste  wood  put  on  the  under  side  to  prevent 
the  burr,  or  ragged  edge,  left  by  the  sawing. 

A  common  way  to  test  saws,  when  buying,  is  to  take  the  handle 


Tools  and  Operations 


in  one  hand  and  bend  the  point  of  the  saw  around  in  a  curve 
sideways  and  then  let  the  blade  spring  back,  which  it  should  do 
without  being  permanently  bent  or  sprung. 

Do  not  saw  from  one  side  of  the  line.     Have  your  eyes  above 
the  line  so  that  you  can  look  on  both  sides  of  the  saw  (Fig.  657). 


FIG.  658. 

This  will  help  you  to  keep  the  saw-blade  at  right  angles  with  the 
surface  of  the  wood. 

Hold  the  saw  firmly  with  the  forefinger  pressed  against  the  side 
of  the  handle  to  help  guide  and  steady  it  (Fig.  657). 

Having  placed  the  saw  just  at  the  outside  edge  of  the  line  and 
on  the  farther  side  of  the  piece,  seize  the  wood  with  the  left  hand 
and  hold  the  thumb  against  the  blade  (above  the  teeth)  to  help 
start  the  cut  in  the  right  place  (Fig.  658).  Aside  from  the  danger 
of  the  saw  jumping  and  damaging  the  wood  unless  guided  by 
the  thumb,  it  is  liable  to  cut  your  left  hand. 

You  can  make  a  little  notch  with  the  knife  or  chisel  on  the 


472          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  659. 


outside  of  the  line,  to  help  start  the  saw,  in  the  case  of  nice  work, 
if  you  wish.  Cut  straight  in  just  on  the  line  and  then  make  a 
sloping  cut  to  meet  this  from  outside 
the  line  (Fig.  659).  First  draw  the 
saw  gently  backwards,  guiding  it  by 
the  thumb,  with  as  little  pressure  on  the 
wood  as  possible  until  you  see  that  the 
cut  is  started  right,  then  push  it  gently 
forward,  and  after  a  few  easy  strokes  in 
this  way  to  get  the  cut  started  right,  keep  on  with  long,  steady 
strokes,  but  not  long  enough  so  that  the  end  of  the  saw  enters  the 
kerf,  lest  it  catch  and  the  saw  buckle.  The  saw  should  cut  most 
on  the  downward  motion,  not  on  the  up  stroke. 

With  a  sharp  saw,  there  is  nothing  gained  by  bearing  down 
heavily  on  the  teeth,  which  may  spring  the  saw  and  make  crooked 
work.  Rather  let  the  saw  run  of  itself  with  an  easy,  light  stroke, 
guiding  it  carefully,  and  not  letting  it  press  on  the  wood  on  the 
up  stroke.  The  more  hastily  and  furiously  you  saw  the  poorer 
the  result  will  probably  be. 
When  you  begin  to  run 
off  the  line,  as  you  will  be 
pretty  sure  to  do,  twist  the 
saw  a  little  with  the  wrist 
as  you  go  on,  which  will 
bring  it  back  to  the  line, 
because  of  the  kerf  being 
wider  than  the  thickness  of 
the  saw-blade. 

Beginners   are  apt    to 

bend  the  saw  over  to  one  FIG.  660. 

side.    You  can  tell  whether 

it  is  cutting  at  right  angles  with  the  face  of  the  board  by  testing 
with  the  try-square  as  shown  in  Fig.  660.  Such  a  test  as  this  is, 
however,  too  inconvenient  for  ordinary  practical  work  and  you 
should  learn  as  quickly  as  you  can  to  hold  the  saw-blade  correctly. 


Tools  and  Operations  473 

At  the  end  of  the  cut,  as  at  the  beginning,  saw  gently  with 
quick,  light  strokes,  and  hold  the  piece  which  is  being  cut  off 
with  the  left  hand,  lest  it  break  off  and  splinter  one  of  the  two  pieces. 

If  the  saw  "  binds  "  or  does  not  work  easily,  you  can  for  your 
rougher  work  put  a  little  tallow,  butter,  lard,  or  lubricating  oil  on 
the  blade,  but  beware  of  doing  this  for  your  nice  work,  or  it  will 
deface  it  when  done.  If  the  binding  is  caused  by  the  springing 
together  of  the  wood  (Fig.  695)  the  crack  should  be  wedged  open. 

Do  not  get  into  the  habit  of  sawing  a  little  way  outside  of  the 
line  and  then  trimming  off  the  superfluous  wood  with  your  knife 
or  a  chisel.  That  is  not  a  good  way  to  learn  to  saw  by  a  line. 
Try  your  best  to  make  the  cut  where  it  should  be  (even  if  you  do 
make  mistakes  for  a  good  while)  and  thus  get  into  the  habit  of 
doing  it  right  without  having  to  rely  on  any  other  tool  than  the  saw. 

Many  pieces  of  wood  can  better  be  screwed  in  the  vise  for  saw- 
ing instead  of  being  laid  on  the  horses,  and  this  position  is  often 
preferable.  In  this  case  you  grasp  the  wood  with  the  left  hand 
and  use  the  saw  as  already  described.  (See  Sharpening). 

Saw-Filing. — See  Sharpening. 
Sawing. — See  Saw. 

Saw-Set. — Various  contrivances  can  be  bought  for  setting 
saw  teeth.  When  you  get  to  the  point  of  needing  one  you  can 
easily  find  a  variety  from  which  to  select. 

Scraper. — The  scraper  is  made  of  saw-blade  steel  (frequently 
from  an  old  saw)  and  may  be  of  any  shape  or  size  to  suit  the  work 
required  of  it.  A  common  form  for  scraping  flat  surfaces  is  rectan- 
gular like  a  postal-card,  and  a  good  size  is  from  2"  x  4"  to  3"  x  5". 

A  piece  of  glass  makes  a  good  scraper  for  almost  every  purpose 
except  where  a  flat,  true  surface  is  required.  It  is  good  to  smooth 
the  handle  of  a  paddle,  for  instance,  but  not  good  for  scraping  the 
top  of  a  nice  table.  For  many  rounded  surfaces  glass  is  fully  as 
good  as  a  steel  scraper,  but  for  general  use  the  latter  is  much 
better.  The  following  directions  may  be  of  use  when  you  wish 


474          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


to  break  glass  to  use  for  a  scraper:  "  Take  the  back  of  a  knife, 
or  the  smooth,  straight  edge  of  any  piece  of  iron  fixed  with  toler- 
able firmness  for  a  moment,  then,  taking  the  piece  of  glass  in  both 
hands,  rest  its  edge  midway  between  them  on  the  edge  of  the  iron ; 
let  the  upper  edge  of  the  glass  lean  from  you,  and  push  it  gently 
along  the  iron,  so  as  slightly  to  indent  the  edge  of  the  glass;  then, 
reversing  its  position  so  as  to  make  it  lean  towards  you,  draw  it 
smartly  along  the  iron,  and  you  will  find  it  separated  by  a  clean 
fracture  directly  across,  forming  a  line  more  or  less  curved,  and 
leaving  one  edge  of  the  glass  much  sharper  than  the  other.  By 
a  little  practice,  and  by  pressing  a  little  more  with  one  hand  than 
the  other,  almost  any  curvature  that  the  work  to  be  done  may  re- 
quire may  be  achieved  "  (Lord  and  Baines,  Shifts  and  Expedients 
of  Camp  Life). 

The  edge  of  the  scraper  is  turned  over  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of 
hooked  edge  or  angle  (Fig.  66 1),  which  when  pushed  over  the 


I 


FIG.  661. 


surface     scrapes     off 

thin     shavings.       To 

smooth  a  flat  surface 

the    scraper    can    be 

held  with  both  hands, 
between  the  fingers  and  thumb 
(Fig.  662),  and  pushed  along 
in  the  direction  towards  which 
it  is  inclined.  Sometimes  one 
end  of  the  scraper  is  held  be- 
tween the  thumb  and  fingers  of 
the  left  hand  and  the  palm  of 
the  right  hand  applied  below  to 
push  the  tool  along.  As  a  rule 

scrape  with  the  grain,  and  it  is  often  advantageous  to  hold  the 
scraper  obliquely  to  the  grain  when  pushing  it  forward.  In  case 
of  some  crooked  and  twisted  grain  you  will  find  it  best  to  scrape 
in  any  and  in  all  directions. 

You  can  make  scrapers  yourself  by  filing  and  grinding  pieces 


FIG.  662. 


Tools  and  Operations  475 

of  old  saw-blades.  It  is  very  convenient  to  have  a  number  of 
them  with  edges  of  various  degrees  of  curvature  (both  convex 
and  concave),  but  these  you  can  make  as  you  need  them.  A 
scraper  is  sometimes  set  in  a  stock  and  guided  by  handles  like 
those  of  a  spoke-shave,  and  sometimes  set  in  a  stock  like  a  plane 
and  used  in  the  same  manner.  A  scraper  of  the  latter  sort  is 
often  useful  to  assist  in  keeping  the  surface  true  when  scraping, 
as  its  flat  sole  prevents  its  following  all  the  undulations  of  the 
surface  as  readily  as  the  hand-scraper,  with  which  one  is  apt  to 
make  depressions  by  scraping  too  much  in  some  particular  spot. 
But  so  far  as  smoothing  the  surface  goes  there  is  nothing  better 
than  the  common  hand-scraper  or  so  easily  taken  care  of.  For 
sharpening  the  scraper,  see  Sharpening. 

In  many  large  places  you  can  get  your  wood  for  nice  work 
scraped  to  a  satin-like  finish  by  a  machine  made  for  the  purpose, 
but  this  is  hardly  worth  while  for  ordinary  work.  You  can  also 
have  it  smoothed  very  nicely  by  sandpapering  machines,  but  this 
is  not  advisable  if  there  is  to  be  any  cutting  of  the  wood  after- 
wards, as  the  grit  left  in  the  pores  of  the  wood  will  quickly  take 
the  keen  edge  from  your  tools. 

The  best  test  for  smoothness  alone  is  to  run  the  fingers  over 
the  surface  with  a  light  touch.  Great  acuteness  of  touch  can  be 
acquired  in  this  way.  Any  experienced  woodworker  can  at  once 
detect  inequalities  with  his  fingers  that  he  could  not  possibly  see. 
Irregularities  in  curves  can  be  detected  in  the  same  way. 

Bead  cutlers  or  scrapers  and  reed  scrapers  and  fluters  can  be 
bought  of  various  patterns.  You  will  hardly  need  to  buy  any- 
thing of  the  sort  for  some  time,  as  you  can  make  one  when  re- 
quired. See  Beading. 

Scratch-Awl. — See  Awl. 

Screw-Driver. — The  screw-driver  is  too  familiar  to  need  de- 
scription, but  in  buying  one  see  that  the  end  is  shaped  like  either 
of  those  shown  in  Fig.  663  and  not  as  shown  in  Fig.  664.  Cheap 
screw-drivers  are  often  made  in  the  latter  way.  If  ground  with 


476          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  663.         FIG.  664. 


a  short  bevel  (Fig.  664)  it  will  bear  only  on  the  top  of  the  slot 
in  the  screw  and  will  be  all  the  time  slipping  out,  on  the  principle 
of  the  inclined  plane,  while  if  the  sides 
are  parallel  or  concaved  slightly  the  end 
will  remain  at  the  bottom  of  the  nick  of 
the  screw.  This  is  also  a  help  in  extract- 
ing screws,  as  it  saves  the  need  of  pressing 
against  the  screw  so  hard  to  keep  the 
screw-driver  from  slipping  out  of  the  slot. 
It  is  well  to  have  screw-drivers  of  different 
sizes,  as  it  is  difficult  and  often  impossible  to  use  a  screw-driver 
with  an  edge  much  too  large  or  too  small. 

Remember  that  a  long  screw-driver  is  always  preferable  to  a 
short  one,  except  where  lack  of  space  makes  a  short  one  neces- 
sary. The  reason  for  this  is  in  the  fact  that  in  using  the  screw- 
driver you  do  not,  as  a  practical  matter,  keep  it  exactly  in  the  line 
of  the  screw,  but  keep  wobbling  it  round  more  or  less,  which 
gives  a  leverage  in  the  form  of  a  crank-like  action  as  you  turn  the 
handle.  The  longer  the  screw-driver  the  larger  the  circle  or 
wobbling  curve  you  describe  with  your  hand  and  the  greater  the 
leverage  (Fig.  665). 

A  screw-driver  to  be  turned  by  the  bit-brace  is 
very  useful  for  driving  screws  rapidly  and  with 
force,  on  account  of  the  greater  leverage  gained  by 
using  the  brace  instead  of  the  common  handle. 
This  is  particularly  useful  where  they  need  to  be 
driven  in  very  hard  or  when  tight  screws  have  to 
be  loosened.  It  also  saves  much  time  when  many 
screws  are  to  be  used.  It  is  not  advisable  to  buy 
automatic  screw-drivers.  They  work  satisfactorily 
for  light  work,  but  are  not  suitable  for  such 
wrenching  and  straining  as  your  screw-drivers  are 
liable  to  be  subjected  to.  You  want  screw-drivers  to  which  you 
can  apply  all  your  strength.  See  Screws. 

Screws, — There  are  many  kinds  of  screws.     You  will  use  the 


V 

*• 
it 

2 
I 


FIG.  665. 


Tools  and  Operations  477 

common  wood-screws  for  most  of  your  work.  These  are  either 
flat-headed  or  round-headed,  and  of  steel  (either  bright  or  blue  or 
bronzed  or  nickled)  or  of  brass.  When  others  are  required  they 
will  be  mentioned.  It  is  doubtful  economy  to  buy  second-hand 
or  waste  screws,  but  a  pound  or  two  of  "  mixed  "  screws,  which 
you  can  get  at  any  hardware  store,  will  be  very  useful  when  you 
want  some  odd  screw  for  some  special  purpose.  Many  of  the 
screws  in  the  "  mixed  "  lots,  which  are  sold  very  cheap,  are  de- 
fective, but  you  can  often  find  among  them  just  the  peculiar  screw 
you  need,  and  so  save  time  and  money. 

Nails  are  often  used  where  it  would  be  better  to  use  screws, 
which  will,  as  a  rule,  hold  the  pieces  more  securely.  When  work 
becomes  loose,  screws  can  be  tightened,  while  nails  usually  have 
to  be  redriven. 

To  make  a  screw  drive  easily,  rub  the  point  on  a  piece  of  com- 
mon soap.  Oil  is  objectionable  for  nice  work  on  account  of  the 
spot  made  by  it.  If  screws  are  to  be  used  in  places  where  they 
may  rust,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  warm  them  slightly  and  then  dip 
them  in  melted  tallow  or  lard.  They  can  also  be  inserted  and 
removed  more  easily  for  this  treatment.  Try  to  keep  the  screw- 
driver from  slipping  from  the  slot  of  the  screw  (see  Screw-driver). 

In  boring  holes  for  screws,  considerable  discretion  must  be 
used.  The  hole  in  the  outer  piece  (the  one  nearer  the  head  of 
the  screw)  should  be  large  enough  to  allow  the  screw  to  slip 
through  freely  —  that  is,  you  should  not  screw  it  into  both 
pieces,  but  only  the  inner  one,  the  screw  acting  somewhat  in  the 
nature  of  a  clamp  to  bind  the  outer  piece  to  the 
inner  by  pinching  it  tight  between  the  screw-head 
and  the  inner  piece  (Fig.  666).  How  much  of  a 


FIG.  666.  kole  to  kore  jn  t^e  pjece  {nto  which  the  point  of 
the  screw  enters  depends  on  circumstances.  The  stouter  the  screw 
the  less  hole  required.  The  softer  and  larger  the  piece  and  the 
farther  from  the  edge  the  less  hole  required.  If  the  piece  is 
small  or  liable  to  split,  the  hole  must  be  carefully  made  —  the  more 
carefully  in  proportion  to  the  slenderness  of  the  screw,  as  a  slim 


47$          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

screw  is  liable  to  twist  off  in  hard  wood  unless  a  sufficient  hole  is 
provided.  Brass  screws  are  very  apt  to  do  this,  and  much  care 
must  be  used,  particularly  with  slender  ones  in  hard  wood.  If 
the  hole  is  a  bit  too  large,  they  will  not  hold.  If  a  trifle  too 
small,  they  will  twist  off,  which  is  very  annoying,  especially  in 
such  cases  as  hinge-screws,  for  instance,  where  the  place  for  the 
screws  cannot  well  be  changed.  The  hole  should  be  somewhat 
smaller  than  the  diameter  of  the  screw.  In  good-sized  pieces  of 
soft  wood  there  is  frequently  no  need  of  any  hole. 

In  rough  work,  especially  in  soft  wood,  the  screws  may  be 
pounded  part  way  with  the  hammer,  driving  them  home  with  the 
screw-driver.  Some  theoretical  workman  will  be  quite  sure  to 
tell  you  never  to  do  such  a  thing  as  that,  so  be  sure  to  understand 
what  is  meant.  Theoretically  there  may  be  some  loss  of  holding 
power  by  that  process,  but  practically  the  screws  will  hold  just  as 
well  for  the  cases  in  which  you  are  advised  to  do  that  way. 
Judgment  must  be  used  about  all  such  things  and  theories  are 
only  of  value  when  used  by  the  light  of  common-sense.  For  ex- 
ample, if  you  are  screwing  the  top  on  a  mahogany  table  or  fram- 
ing a  nice  boat  never  think  of  using  a  hammer  to  start  your  screws, 
but  if  you  are  putting  cleats  on  an  old  shed  door  or  screwing  up 
a  packing-case  do  not  spend  an  hour  and  a  lot  of  strength  driving 
screws  all  the  way  with  a  screw-driver  when  you  can  do  the  work 
in  half  an  hour  by  driving  the  screws  three  quarters  of  the  way  in 
with  the  hammer.  Good  practical  workmen  are  just  as  certain 
to  use  the  hammer  in  such  cases  as  they  are  careful  not  to  use  it  for 
nice  work  or  where  the  full  holding  power  of  the  screw  is  needed. 

Flat-headed  screws  almost  always  should  be  countersunk  (see 
Countersink),  for  neatness  if  for  no  other  reason,  and  in  hard 
wood  you  should  cut  the  depression  for  the  head  of  the  screw 
with  the  regular  countersink  made  for  the  purpose.  This  should 
be  done  for  nice  work  in  soft  wood  where  a  good  surface  is  re- 
quired, but  for  common  work  in  soft  wood  there  is  no  need,  as  a 
rule,  for  the  head  of  the  screw  will  sink  itself  easily  until  flush 
with  the  surface. 


Tools  and  Operations 


479 


If  a  screw  hole  requires  to  be  moved  a  little,  but  not  far  enough 
so  that  a  new  hole  can  be  bored  without  the  bit  slipping  into  the 
old  hole,  plug  the  old  hole  with  a  wooden  pin  dipped  in  glue, 
and  when  dry  bore  the  new  hole  where  required. 

See  Screw-driver. 

Scribing. —  Compasses  are  often  used  for  scribing  a  line 
parallel  to  another  line  or  surface,  whether  regular  or  irregular, 


FIG.  667. 


FIG.  668. 


in  places  where  the  gauge  cannot  be  used.  Suppose,  for  instance, 
you  wish  to  cut  the  edge  of  a  board  to  fit  the  undulating  surface 
shown  in  Fig.  667.  Run  the  compasses  along  with  one  point  on 
the  surface  and  the  other  making  a  mark  on  the  board,  and  the 
line  on  the  board  will  be  parallel  with  the  surface. 

Another  example  is  that  of  making  a  table,  bench,  chair,  horse, 
or  any  four-legged  object  stand  evenly.  If  it  stands  on  three  legs, 
which  is  a  common  fault  and  likely  to 
occur  in  your  first  attempts,  do  not  hastily 
saw  one  leg  shorter  by  guess,  and,  mak- 
ing it  too  short,  saw  another  and  so  on 
until  it  stands  firmly,  when  the  top  will 
probably  be  all  out  of  level.  If  there  is 
any  true  surface  on  which  you  can  stand 
the  article  (right  side  up),  you  can  level 
the  top  by  wedging  under  the  legs  until  the  corners  of  the  top  are 
equally  distant  from  the  surface  on  which  the  object  stands. 


480          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Then  setting  the  compasses  at  a  distance  equal  to  that  at  which 
the  end  of  the  shortest  leg  is  raised  (Fig.  668),  scribe  around  the 
other  legs,  which  can  then  be  cut  off.1 
See  also  Winding- Sticks  and  Marking. 

Setting  Saws. — See  Sharpening. 

Sharpening. — Before  attempting  to  sharpen  your  tools  your- 
self it  would  be  well  to  read  the  advice  given  on  page  22  under 
Care  of  Tools. 

The  general  process  of  sharpening  edged  tools  is  first  to  grind 
them  to  as  keen  an  edge  as  possible  on  the  grindstone,  or  the 
emery-wheel,  then  to  smooth  down  the  coarse  edge  left  by  the 
grindstone  by  rubbing  on  a  fine  stone  with  oil  or  water,  and 
finally  stropping  on  leather.  The  grindstone  must  be  kept  wet 
while  grinding  or  the  heat  caused  by  the  friction  of  the  tool  on 
the  dry  stone  will  ruin  the  temper  of  the  steel.  Besides,  the 
water  carries  off  the  waste  particles  of  stone  and  steel.  Stand  on 
the  side  towards  which  the  top  of  the  stone  turns.  The  tool  can 
be  ground  with  the  stone  turning  from  you,  and,  in  fact,  this 
usually  seems  the  natural  way  to  a  novice,  but  it  is  usually  more 
difficult  to  grind  uniformly  in  that  way  and  too  thin  an  edge  (a 
"  wire-edge,"  ragged  but  not  sharp)  is  apt  to  be  produced,  the 
removal  of  which  is  difficult  without  further  damaging  the  edge 
and  delaying  the  final  sharpening. 

To  grind  the  point  of  a  knife,  it  can  be  moved  back  and  forth 
lengthways  with  a  curving  motion,  while  resting  flat  on  the 
grindstone,  and  to  grind  the  straight  part  of  the  blade,  it  can  be 
allowed  to  bear  very  slightly  harder  near  the  edge  of  the  stone  than 
elsewhere,  as  it  is  passed  back  and  forth. 

1  Another  method  of  doing  this  is  to  find  a  true  surface  to  stand  the  legs  on 
and  measure  the  distance  the  free  leg  rises  from  the  surface — i"  for  example. 
Do  nothing  to  that  leg,  of  course,  or  to  the  one  diagonally  opposite,  but  saw 
\"  from  each  of  the  two  other  legs.  Suppose,  for  example,  the  legs  a,  6,  and 
c  touch  (Fig.  66g),  and  d  rises  £ "  from  the  floor.  Make  a  and  c  each  f  * 
shorter.  Of  course  you  cannot  hit  it  exactly  by  this  method,  but  a  few  strokes 
of  a  tool  will  finish  the  work. 


Tools  and  Operations  481 

To  grind  a  chisel,  grasp  the  handle  with  the  right  hand,  hold 
the  blade  in  the  left  hand  with  the  ringers  uppermost  and  near 
the  cutting-edge.  The  arms  and  wrists  should  be  kept  as  rigid 
as  possible,  the  former  at  the  sides  of  the  body,  so  that  the  tool 
may  be  held  firmly  against  the  motion  of  the  stone.  Lay  the 
chisel  with  slight  pressure  quite  flatly  on  the  stone  and  then  raise 
the  handle  until  the  bevel  touches  the  stone.  As  you  grind  keep 
moving  the  tool  slowly  back  and  forth  across  the  stone,  which 
helps  keep  the  edge  of  the  tool  straight  and  prevents  the  stone 
being  worn  away  too  much  in  one  place.  Use  plenty  of  water. 

The  common  way  of  holding  the  tool  on  the  stone  is  the  one 
just  described,  but  it  can  also  be  held  at  right  angles  to  this  posi- 
tion, so  that,  in  the  case  of  a  chisel,  for  instance,  the  grinding 
action  of  the  stone  instead  of  being  from  the  edge  toward  the 
handle  is  from  side  to  side  of  the  blade.  The  tool  is  ground 
quicker  and  easier  by  this  means,  and  it  is  a  good  way  to  reduce 
the  edge  to  shape,  finishing  the  grinding  by  the  regular  method. 

You  will  see  that  the  curvature  of  the  stone  will  tend  to  give 
the  bevel  a  slight  curve,  in  whatever  position  the  tool  is  held, 
which  is  advantageous  in  the  common  way  of  grinding.  When 
held  so  that  the  stone  grinds  from  side  to  side  of  the  blade  the 
tool  must  be  continually  turned  a  little  in  the  hand  so  that  each 
part  of  the  edge  will  bear  in  turn  on  the  stone,  as,  the  tool  edge 
being  flat,  and  the  surface  of  the  stone  rounding,  the  tool  would 
otherwise  be  ground  hollowing.  It  is  harder  to  hold  the  tool  in 
this  way,  however,  without  its  slipping  or  making  nicks  or  grooves 
in  the  stone,  and  you  had  best  learn  to  grind  in  the  ordinary 
manner. 

Try  to  grind  squarely  across  the  chisel — that  is,  to  have  the 
cutting-edge  at  right  angles  to  the  lengthways  edge  of  the  tool. 
Apply  the  square  at  intervals  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  grinding. 

The  angle  for  grinding  the  bevel  of  such  tools  as  the  chisel  is 
about  twenty-five  degrees,  but  when  used  for  very  hard  wood  the 
angle  should  be  slightly  greater,  or  the  edge  may  be  broken. 

Do  all  the  grinding  on  the  bevel.     Do  not  apply  the  flat  side 

37 


482          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

of  the  tool  to  the  grindstone.  Any  slight  burr  or  turning  over  of 
the  edge  on  the  flat  side  should  be  taken  off  by  the  oilstone. 

If  the  edge  is  badly  nicked  or  broken,  you  can  first  straighten 
or  grind  it  down  roughly  on  the  side  of  the  stone  or  by  holding  it 
nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  stone  —  but  with  the  latter  turning 
the  other  way — before  grinding  in  the  regular  way. 

To  tell  when  the  tool  is  ground  sufficiently,  hold  the  edge  in 
front  of  you  toward  the  light.  If  the  edge  can  be  seen  as  a  bright 
shining  line  it  is  a  sign  that  the  tool  is  dull.  It  will  not  be  sharp 
until  this  bright  line  has  been  removed,  and  the  edge  has  become 
invisible,  for  a  really  keen  edge  cannot  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye. 
Bear  this  in  mind,  as  it  is  the  final  test  and  the  simplest  way  to 
tell  when  to  stop  grinding. 

In  grinding  on  a  grindstone  and  in  rubbing  on  an  oilstone,  the 
great  difficulty  is  to  keep  the  same  angle  between  the  tool  and 
the  stone,  as  the  natural  tendency  in  moving  the  tool  is  to  rock 
it  back  and  forth  and  thus  alter  the  angle  between  the  blade  and 
the  stone.  An  arrangement  can  be  bought  which  preserves  the 
desired  angle  without  effort  on  the  part  of  the  grinder.  A  little 
ingenuity  will  enable  you  to  rig  up  a  guide  or  gauge  with  a  piece 
of  board  which  will  enable  you  to  replace  the  tool  on  the  grind- 
stone at  the  same  angle. 

The  plane-iron  is  sharpened  in  the  same  way  as  the  chisel,  only, 
being  wider  than  most  of  the  chisels  you  are  likely  to  use,  it  re- 
quires more  care  to  sharpen.  The  plane-irons  can  be  ground  to 
a  somewhat  more  acute  angle  than  the  chisels,  although  the  jack- 
plane,  which  is  used  for  rough  work,  may  require  more  strength 
at  the  edge. 

In  rubbing  the  edge  upon  the  oilstone,  do  not  attempt  to  smooth 
down  the  whole  bevel  made  by  the  grindstone,  but  first  lay  the 
tool  lightly  on  the  stone  as  shown  in  Fig.  6700,  then  raise  the 
handle  until  the  upper  part  of  the  bevel  is  very  slightly  raised, — 
barely  enough  to  clear  the  stone  (Fig.  670^), —  and  then  pro- 
ceed with  the  whetting,  thus  making  a  second  or  little  bevel  at 
the  edge  (Fig.  671). 


Tools  and  Operations 


483 


The  tool  must  be  moved  back  and  forth  very  steadily  or  instead 
of  a  second  bevel  the  whole  edge  will  be  rounded  (Fig.  672)  and 
will  not  have  the  requisite  keenness.  The  angle  of  this  second 
bevel  is  usually  about  ten  degrees  greater  than  the  long  bevel,  or 
thirty-five  degrees,  although  the  angles  of  sharpening  should  be 


varied  slightly  according  to  the  hardness  of  the  wood  and  the 
kind  of  work  to  be  done;  but  where  you  have  only  few  tools  and 
must  use  them  for  all  kinds  of  work  you  cannot  always,  as  a 
practical  matter,  pay  much  regard  to  such  variations,  as  of  course 
you  cannot  keep  regrinding  your  tools  every  time  you  begin  on  a 
new  piece  of  wood.  Just  how  acute  to  make  the  edge  you  must 
learn  by  experience,  according  to  the  conditions  of  your  work. 


FIG.  671. 


FIG.  672. 


An  edge  suitable  for  delicate  work  in  white-pine  would  be  imme- 
diately ruined  if  used  upon  lignum-vitae. 

Any  little  wire  edge  which  is  produced  on  the  flat  side  by  the 
process  of  rubbing  on  the  oilstone  can  be  removed  by  drawing 
the  flat  side  of  the  iron  over  the  stone  once,  but  be  sure  that  you 
do  not  raise  the  handle  at  all,  as  the  slightest  bevel  on  the  flat 


484          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

side  of  the  edge  will  spoil  it.  After  the  tool  has  been  sharpened 
a  good  many  times  on  the  oilstone  this  smaller  bevel  (the  oilstone 
bevel,  so  to  speak)  will  become  so  wide  that  it  is  a  waste  of  time 
and  strength  to  rub  it  down.  The  chisel  must  then  be  reground 
and  a  new  bevel  made  on  the  oilstone. 

It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  a  separate  stone  or  "  slip  "  for  the  out- 
side bevel  of  gouges,  because  it  is  so  hard  to  avoid  rubbing  hol- 
lows in  the  stone,  which  injures  it  for  the  other  tools.  Care 
must  be  taken  also  with  very  narrow  or  pointed  tools  lest  the 
stone  be  grooved  or  nicked.  Gouges  can  be  rubbed  at  right 
angles  with  the  stone,  rolling  the  tool  with  the  left  hand,  or  by 
the  use  of  a  slip  they  can  be  rubbed  as  described  below.  For 
rubbing  gouges  on  the  inside,  /.  e.,  on  the  concave  surface, 
rounded  pieces  of  stone,  called  "  slips,"  are  used.  These  can 
be  bought  of  various  sizes  and  shapes  to  fit  the  various  curves. 
Do  not  think,  however,  that  you  must  try  to  find  a  slip  that  will 
fit  each  gouge  as  exactly  as  if  it  had  been  shaped  by  the  gouge 
itself.  The  curve  of  the  slip  may  be  a  little  "quicker"  or 
sharper  than  that  of  the  tool,  but  must  not  be  flatter  or  of  course 
it  cannot  be  made  to  bear  on  all  parts  of  the  curve. 

In  rubbing  with  the  slip,  hold  the  tool  upright  in  the  hand  and 
rub  the  slip  up  and  down,  moving  the  slip  and  not  the  tool.  If 
you  rest  the  tool  against  the  bench,  it  will  steady  it  and  also  avoid 
any  probability  of  your  finger  slipping  on  to  the  edge.  The  more 
common  "  outside  "  gouges  are  not  rubbed  on  the  inside,  except 
the  merest  touch  of  the  slip  to  remove  any  wire  edge  or  burr. 
The  draw-knife  is  also  rubbed  with  a  flat  slip,  in  the  same  man- 
ner, resting  it  on  the  bench. 

In  rubbing  the  knife  on  the  oilstone  give  it  a  circular  motion 
rather  than  simply  back  and  forth,  particularly  for  the  point. 
The  straight  part  can  be  allowed  to  bear  a  little  more  heavily 
near  the  edge  of  the  stone  as  it  is  passed  back  and  forth. 

It  is  much  the  best  way  to  sharpen  tools  frequently,  as  soon  as 
they  begin  to  get  dull,  when  they  will  require  but  little  rubbing 
on  the  stone,  rather  than  to  let  them  get  into  such  condition  that 


Tools  and  Operations  485 

it  is  a  long  and  hard  job  to  whet  them;  and  of  course  the  more 
careful  you  are  to  keep  them  sharp,  the  better  work  you  will  do. 

To  test  the  sharpness  of  your  tools,  cut  across  the  grain  of  a 
piece  of  soft  pine  wood.  If  the  cut  is  clean  and  smooth,  the  tools 
are  sharp,  but  if  the  cut  is  rough  or  the  wood  torn,  further  sharp- 
ening is  needed.  The  reason  for  using  soft  wood,  which  at  first 
thought  might  not  seem  to  require  as  keen  an  edge  as  hard  wood, 
is  because  the  fibrous  structure  of  the  soft  wood,  being  more 
yielding,  offers  less  resistance  to  the  tool  and  so  is  torn  or  crushed 
apart  except  by  a  very  keen  edge,  while  the  firmer  structure  of 
the  hard  wood  can  be  cut  smoothly  by  a  tool  which  would  tear 
the  soft  wood.  The  difference  is  somewhat  like  that  between  cut- 
ting a  fresh  loaf  of  bread  or  cake  and  a  stale  one. 

The  edge  left  by  the  oilstone  can  be  improved  by  stropping  on 
a  piece  of  leather  on  which  a  little  paste  of  lard  and  emery  or 
some  similar  composition  has  been  spread.  This  is  better  than 
to  strop  knives  and  other  tools  on  your  boots.  Any  piece  of 
leather  such  as  barbers  use,  or  even  a  piece  from  an  old  boot, 
will  answer.  For  flat  edges  see  that  the  strop  rests  on  a  flat  sur- 
face, so  as  not  to  tend  to  round  the  edge,  as  it  may  do  if  held 
carelessly  in  the  hand.  See  Oilstone  and  Strop. 

Saw  Filing  is  particularly  hard  for  boys  and  amateurs  to  do 
satisfactorily  and  you  are  advised  not  to  undertake  it  until  you 
have  become  quite  familiar  with  the  use  of  tools,  for  it  does  not 
need  to  be  done  very  often,  costs  but  little,  and  there  are  very 
few  places  where  you  cannot  get  it  done. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  theory  of  setting  and  filing 
saw  teeth,  but  to  fix  a  saw  in  really  good  shape  is  hard  for  an 
amateur, — and  for  that  matter  you  will  find  but  a  small  proportion 
of  good  workmen  who  are  experts  in  saw  filing.  Even  in  very 
small  villages  there  is  almost  always  some  mechanic  who  has 
the  knack  of  putting  saws  in  order  better  than  anyone  else  and 
who  therefore  makes  quite  a  business  of  such  work  and  people 
bring  their  saws  to  him  from  all  the  country  round,  even  though 
they  may  be  able  to  fix  them  tolerably  well  themselves,  so  great 


486  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

is  the  advantage  in  the  quality  of  the  work  and  the  saving  of  time 
in  having  a  saw  in  perfect  condition.  You  had  best  do  the  same, 
and  have  your  saws  fixed  whenever  they  get  dull.  The  expense 
is  but  slight,  and  there  is  nothing  that  will  conduce  more  to  good 
work,  and  to  your  own  success  and  satisfaction,  than  to  have 
your  tools  in  first-rate  working  order. 

When  you  get  to  the  point  of  filing  and  setting  your  saws  you  are 
advised  to  take  a  lesson  from  a  good  saw-filer.  There  are  few  per- 
sons so  situated  that  they  cannot  do  this,  or  at  least  watch  some- 
one go  through  the  process,  and  thus  learn  much  more  readily 
than  by  reading  about  the  process  in  a  book.  In  fact,  it  is  one 
of  those  things  that  it  is  so  hard  to  learn  from  a  book  that  merely 
a  few  remarks  on  the  subject  are  given  here. 

The  saw  is  firmly  fastened  in  a  saw-clamp,  expressly  for  the 
purpose,  so  that  it  will  not  shake  or  rattle.  The  teeth  are 
"  jointed,"  or  reduced  to  the  same  level,  by  lightly  passing  the 
flat  side  of  a  file  over  their  points,  lengthways  of  the  saw.  The 
saw  can  also  be  jointed  along  the  sides  after  filing,  but  this  is 
frequently  omitted. 

For  a  cross-cutting  saw  the  file  (a  triangular  saw-file)  is  held  at 
an  angle  with  the  blade  depending  upon  the  particular  form  of 
tooth  adopted,  as  you  will  see  by  examination.  The  handle  be- 
ing grasped  in  the  right  hand,  the  point  of  the  file  should  be  held 
between  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  the  left  hand  (Fig.  526). 
The  file  must  be  pushed  across  with  an  even,  straight  stroke, 
without  any  rocking  or  up  and  down  motion,  pressure  being  ap- 
plied only  on  the  forward  or  pushing  stroke,  the  tool  being  drawn 
back  very  lightly  or  lifted  entirely  on  the  back  stroke.  The  filing 
is  begun  at  one  end  of  the  saw,  filing  only  the  teeth  which 
bend  away  from  you  (/.  e.,  every  alternate  tooth),  carefully  keep- 
ing the  file  at  the  proper  angle,  pressing  only  on  the  tooth  you 
are  filing,  but  keeping  the  tool  lightly  touching  the  adjacent  tooth, 
and  making  allowance  for  the  fact  that  when  you  file  the  alter- 
nate set  the  passing  file  will  take  off  a  little  from  the  teeth  first 
filed-  The  saw  is  then  turned  around  and  the  process  repeated 


Tools  and  Operations  487 

with  the  other  teeth.  If  you  look  lengthways  along  the  edge  of 
a  panel-saw  that  has  been  properly  filed  and  set,  an  angular 
trough  or  groove  will  be  seen  along  the  whole  length,  so  that  you 
can  slide  a  needle  along  in  it  from  one  end  of  the  saw  to  the 
other. 

The  ripping-saw  is  usually  filed  squarely  across  the  saw  (at 
right-angles  to  the  blade),  as  you  will  see  at  once  on  examination 
of  the  teeth  (Figs.  654  and  655),  but  sometimes  at  a  more  acute 
angle. 

The  teeth  are  set  by  bending  every  other  tooth  outward,  first 
setting  those  on  one  side  and  then  those  on  the  other.  You 
should  do  this  with  some  one  of  the  various  adjustable  tooth- 
setting  contrivances  sold  for  the  purpose,  as  it  requires  a  skilled 
workman  to  set  teeth  in  any  other  way,  and  any  attempt  on  your 
part  to  do  so  without  some  instrument  adjusted  to  the  purpose 
will  probably  result  in  damaging  the  saw. 

For  soft  and  loose-fibred  wood  more  set  is  needed  than  for  hard 
wood,  because  the  fibres,  which  are  quite  cleanly  cut  or  broken 
in  the  hard  wood,  in  the  more  yielding  soft  wood  are  bent  aside 
by  the  teeth  to  close  in  upon  the  blade  with  considerable  bind- 
ing force;  and  less  set  is  required  by  fine  work  than  for  coarse. 
The  angles  and  points  of  saw  teeth  can  be  more  acute  for  soft 
than  for  hard  wood. 

To  sharpen  the  scraper  you  must  have  a  sharpener  or  burnisher. 
The  edge  of  a  chisel  or  any  piece  of  very  hard  steel  can  be  used 
after  a  fashion,  but  it  is  better  to  have  a  regular  tool  for  the  pur- 
pose, which  can  be  made  easily  from  an  old  three-cornered  file, 
such  as  is  used  for  filing  saws,  by  grinding  off  the  teeth  and 
slightly  rounding  the  angles  on  the  grindstone  until  the  whole 
tool  is  smooth.  Two  opposite  edges  of  the  scraper  are  ground 
or  filed  and  the  edge  then  turned  over  by  the  burnisher.  Some 
workmen  grind  the  edges  with  an  obtuse  bevel  and  use  only  one 
angle  of  each  edge.  Others  grind  the  edges  square  and  use  both 
angles  of  each  edge.  The  bevel  gives  a  slightly  keener  scraping 
edge  than  to  grind  the  steel  square,  but  it  requires  more  frequent 


488  Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

sharpening  and  the  squared  edge  turned  over  on  both  sides  is 

likely  to  be  more  satisfactory. 

First  grind  or  file  the  two  opposite  edges  squarely  across  and 

slightly  round  each  corner  to  prevent  scratching  the  wood.     If 

there  is  a  burr  at  the  edge  it 
can  be  removed  by  rubbing  the 
scraper  lightly  on  the  oilstone, 

but  this  is   advisable   only  for 
FIG.  673.  ...  ... 

final  scraping  of  very  fine  work. 

Having  thus  got  the  edge  at  right  angles  and  smooth,  lay  the 
scraper  flat  on  its  side  near  the  edge  of  the  bench  and  rub  the 
burnisher  back  and  forth  a  few  times  in  the  position  shown  in 
Fig.  673,  which  is  almost  flat  on  the  scraper.  This  rubbing 
bends  a  little  of  the  steel  over  the  edge.  Do  this  on  each  op- 
posite edge  of  the  two  sides,  giving  four  edges  thus  curled  over. 
Next,  holding  the  scraper  as  shown  in  Fig.  674,  draw  the  bur- 
nisher with  a  firm,  even  stroke,  once  or  twice,  lengthways  of  the 
edge,  as  shown.  The  scraper  can  be  laid  flat  on  the  bench,  if 
preferred,  slightly  projecting 
over  the  edge.  Notice  that 
the  tool  should  be  drawn  with 
a  slightly  end  to  end  motion, 
as  shown,  which  helps  turn  the 
edge.  This  turns  a  fine  scrap- 
ing edge,  which  will  take  off 
shavings.  All  four  edges  are 
treated  in  the  same  way.  Af- 
ter one  edge  gets  dull,  use 
another.  When  all  four  are 
dull,  resharpen  with  the  burnisher  as  before,  without  grinding  or 
filing  the  edge.  This  can  be  done  a  few  times,  but  soon  the  edges 
will  get  worn  off  and  rounded,  and  the  scraper  then  needs  refiling. 

Shellac. — See  Finishing. 
Shell-Bit.— See  Bits. 


FIG.  674. 


Tools  and  Operations 


489 


Shelves. — Examples  of  shelves  fitted  permanently  into  place 
are  given  in  Chapter  X.  (on  Furniture).  Removable  shelves  can 
most  easily  be  fitted  to  rest  on  cleats  screwed  to  the  sides  of  the 
space,  but  this  arrangement  does  not  always  look  very  well  and 
the  position  of  the  shelves  cannot  be  changed  so  readily  as  by 
using  screw-eyes  driven  into  the  sides  under  the  shelves  (Fig. 


HP 

fli 

if 

/ 

II           II 

| 

LecCae      I, 
1 

' 

A 

+  t&A 

\! 

I    shelf 

^ 

"% 

^fjr1 

\\  \ 

g 

FIG.  675 

'                          1 

,\l 

/^=~^rr  —  ~^\ 

675),    recesses    of 

H 

(i 

the  right  shape  be-           \ 

! 

ing  cut  on  the  un- 

.             N 

\ 

der    side     of    the 

Z\ 

shelves  so  that  the 

\  1  ! 

/ 

\ 

screw-eyes  will  be 

i 

/ 

sunk   and    not    be 

i]1! 

1 

1 

conspicuous. 

The 

'A      I 

^1 

position  of  the 

M  U 

V 

*>- 

shelves  can  quick- 

Mr 

MMMBMIBI 

ly  be  changed  by 
screwing   the  sup- 

n       1  1  /   | 

FIG.  676. 

ports  higher  or  lower  as  may  be  required.  Pins  and  other  con- 
trivances to  fit  in  a  series  of  holes  can  be  bought  for  this  purpose. 
A  common  way  to  adjust  shelves  is  shown  in  Fig.  676.  The 
construction  is  obvious.  The  vertical  strips  can  be  laid  on  edge 
side  by  side,  clamped  together,  and  the  notches  laid  out  and  cut 
as  if  there  were  but  one  piece.  Where  a  circular  saw  is  available 
the  notches  are  cut  on  the  side  of  a  narrow  piece  of  board  which 
is  then  sawed  into  the  desired  strips  or  "  ratchets," 


490          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Shooting-Board. — The  shooting-board  is  very  useful  for 
jointing  edges,  particularly  for  short,  thin  stock.  The  carpenter 
or  cabinet-maker  will  make  you  one  for  a  moderate  price,  or  you 
can  make  one  yourself  as  soon  as  you  become  a  good  enough 
workman  (see  page  93). 

To  use  it,  the  board  to  be  jointed  is  laid  flat  on  the  raised  part 
of  the  shooting-board,  where  it  is  firmly  held  with  the  left  hand, 


FIG.  677. 

with  the  end  of  the  board  pressing  against  the  stop  of  the  shooting- 
board,  and  the  edge  to  be  jointed  lapping  over  the  edge  of  the 
raised  part.  The  planing  is  done  with  the  plane  lying  on  its  side 
on  the  lower  part  of  the  shooting-board  (Fig.  677).  The  cutting- 
edge  of  the  plane  thus  being  at  right  angles  with  the  surface  of 
the  board,  the  edge  will  be  planed  squarely  across.  The  shoot- 
ing-board should  be  fastened  on  the  bench  in  some  way,  to  pre- 
vent it  from  slipping  around. 

Attachments  to  keep  the  sole  of  the  plane  at  right  angles  to  the 
surface  of  the  piece  can  be  had  at  any  hardware  store,  and  serve 


Tools  and  Operations  491 

the  same  purpose  as  a  shooting-board  for  thick  stock,  but  not 
equally  well  for  thin  pieces. 

You  can  reverse  the  sides  of  two  pieces  to  be  jointed  for 
gluing,  as  described  on  page  406,  giving  a  joint  like  that 
shown  in  Fig.  678  (which  is  exaggerated).  The  iron  of 
the  plane  is  sometimes  purposely  set  to  project  unevenly 
beyond  the  sole.  k& 

If  you  have  many  joints  to  make,  you  can  have  the 
edges  jointed  at  slight  expense  at  any  woodworking  mill 
on  a  planer  made  for  the  purpose.  See  Jointing. 

Smoothing-Plane. — See  Plane. 

Smoothing  Surfaces. — See  Plane,  Scraper,  Sandpaper. 

Splices. — See  Joints  and  Splices. 

Spline. — A  flexible  strip,  used  as  a  ruler,  for  drawing  curves. 
See  Marking. 

Splitting-Saw. — See  Saw. 

Splitting  Wood. — We  have  seen  how  a  log  in  drying  cracks 
along  the  radial  lines  (page  31),  thus  showing  the  natural  lines 
of  cleavage  or  separation  in  the  direction  of  the  medullary  rays, 
that  is,  radiating  from  the  centre.  From  this  we  see  that  the 
wood  will,  of  course,  split  most  easily  and  smoothly  on  the  radial 
lines.  Like  all  wood-choppers  you  can  often  make  practical 
use  of  this  fact  in  splitting  wood  with  a  knife  or  chisel,  or  in 
splitting  fuel  with  an  axe.  The  next  easiest  way  to  split  wood 
is  as  nearly  as  may  be  on  the  line  of  the  annual  rings,  or  tan- 
gential to  the  line  of  the  medullary  rays,  in  the  same  direction 
as  when  the  layers  separate  in  forming  "  cup  shakes  "  (see  Ap- 
pendix). This  way  is  sometimes  easier  than  to  rive  a  stout  log 
through  the  centre. 

Spokeshave. — The  spokeshave  is  very  useful  for  smoothing 
small  curved  and  irregular  surfaces.  Metal  spokeshaves  of  vari- 
ous patterns  can  be  bought  with  various  adjustments  for  different 
curves,  etc.  Also  a  "  universal  "  spokeshave  can  be  had,  with 


492          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


movable  handles  and  detachable  bottoms  which  can  be  adapted 
for  curved  or  straight  work,  and  a  width  gauge  by  means  of  which 
it  can  be  used  for  rabbeting. 

The  spokeshave  is  a  very  useful  tool  and  works  upon  the  same 
general  principle  as  the  plane,  but  lacking  the  long  flat  sole  of 
the  plane  is  used  only  for  irregular  surfaces,  which  its  short  and 
sometimes  curved  face  enables  it  to  smooth  with  great  ease.  It 
also  acts  on  the  same  principle  as  a  draw-knife  with  the  addition 
of  a  guiding  stock.  It  bears  somewhat  the  same  relation  to  the 
draw-knife  that  the  plane  does  to  the  chisel. 

Grasp  the  tool  firm- 
ly, bearing  downward 
with  both  hands  and 
pressing  forward  with 
the  thumbs,  pushing 
the  tool  from  you  so 
as  to  cut  like  a  plane 
(Fig.  679).  Of  course 
it  can  also  be  'drawn 
towards  you  when  the 
circumstances  of  the 
work  render  it  advis- 
able. See  Paring  and 
Sharpening. 


FIG.  679. 
Spoon-Bit. — See  Bits. 


Square. — This  tool  is  one  of  the  most  useful  in  the  list,  for 
the  importance  of  having  your  work  "  square  "  can  hardly  be 
over-estimated. 

The  try-square  should  have  a  metal  strip  on  the  inside  edge  of 
the  wooden  arm,  head,  or  beam,  or  the  handle  can  be  wholly 
of  metal.  Get  a  medium-sized  try-square  (9-  or  lo-inch  blade  is 
good)  rather  than  a  very  small  one,  as  it  is  much  more  useful; 
and  a  graduated  scale,  like  a  rule,  on  the  blade  is  sometimes 
serviceable, 


Tools  and  Operations  493 

The  primary  use  of  this  tool  is  to  test  or  "  try  "  the  accuracy 


of  right-angled  work — hence  the  name.     The  one  special  point 
to  bear  in  mind  in  using  it  for  this  purpose  is  to  be  sure  that  the 


494          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


head  or  beam  is  pressed  firmly  against  the  edge  or  side  to  which 
it  is  applied,  determining  the  accuracy  of  the  angle  by  the  posi- 
tion of  the  blade  (Fig.  680). 

You  will  also  use  the  try-square  continually  for  marking  straight 
lines  across  boards  or  timbers  at  right  angles  to  one  side  or  one 
edge  (Fig.  681).  In  using  it  for  this  purpose  be  sure  not  merely 
to  press  the  head  of  the  square  firmly  against  the  edge  of  the 
board,  but  to  keep  it  securely  in  the  same  position.  When  the 
blade  is  placed  correctly  on  the  given  point  do  the  marking  as  by 
any  straight-edge.  Another  way  is  to  place  the  point  of  the  pen- 
cil or  knife  directly  on  the  given  point  and  slide  the  square  along 
until  it  bears  on  the  pencil  or  knife.  Then,  keeping  the  head  of 
the  square  firmly  against  the  edge,  the  line  can  be  drawn  along  the 
blade. 


FIG.  68 1. 


FIG.  682. 


The  try-square  sometimes  is  made  with  the  end  of  the  head  or 
beam  next  the  blade  cut  on  a  bevel.  By  placing  this  bevel 
against  the  edge  a  try-square  of  this  construction  can  also  be 
used  as  a  mitre-square  (Fig.  682). 

If  you  buy  a  second-hand  square,  or  if  a  square  has  been 
wrenched,  you  can  test  its  accuracy  by  marking  a  line  with  it 
across  a  surface  from  a  straight  edge,  then  turning  the  square 
over  and  repeating  the  operation;  the  two  lines  should  coincide. 
But  the  edge  from  which  you  rule  must  be  perfectly  straight,  or 
the  test  will  be  of  no  value.  If,  however,  you  buy  new  squares 


Tools  and  Operations  495 

made  by  the  best  makers  they  will  be  as  accurate  as  any  test  you 
can  apply  to  them. 

Beginners,  particularly  young  beginners,  are  very  apt  to  be  so 
engrossed  in  making  the  line  along  the  blade  that  they  forget  to 
keep  the  head  in  position,  or  let  it  slip,  when  the  blade  will  of 
course  cease  to  be  at  right  angles  with  the  edge  or  side  (Fig.  683) 


FIG.  683. 

The  framing-square,  "  steel- square,"  or  large  two-foot  car- 
penter's square,  is  a  very  useful  and  important  tool;  not  merely 
for  framing  and  large,  heavy  work  but  also  for  small  work,  and  it 
is  of  great  value  in  many  mechanical  operations.  Even  an  iron 
square  is  very  useful,  but  a  nickel-plated  steel-square  is  the  best, 
as  the  figures  are  more  distinct  and  it  is  less  likely  to  rust.  The 
long  arm  makes  a  good  straight-edge.  See  also  page  181. 

Staining. — When  you  stain  wood,  do  it  for  the  sake  of  the 
colour,  preserving  the  beauty  of  the  grain,  and  not  to  try  to 
imitate  a  more  expensive  wood.  It  is  better,  as  a  rule,  to  use 
good  wood  of  a  handsome  colour  and  leave  it  as  it  is  to  mellow 
with  age  than  to  stain  or  colour  it,  but  there  are  times  when  you 
will  wish  to  stain  wood. 

The  main  point  to  bear  in  mind  for  successful  staining  is  to 
colour  the  wood  itself,  not  to  put  on  a  superficial  coat  of  coloured 
varnish.  For  instance,  the  fumes  of  ammonia  (or  the  liquid 
itself)  will  give  oak  in  a  very  short  time  the  same  dark  colour 
which  the  ammonia  in  the  air  will  produce  after  years  of  expos- 
ure. This  is  a  natural  process — merely  anticipating  the  change 
caused  by  time. 


496          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

There  are  a  number  of  ways  of  staining  dependent  upon  such 
chemical  processes  carried  on  in  the  wood  itself.  These  ways 
are  the  best,  as  you  can  readily  see.  Having  got  the  right  colour, 
the  wood  can  be  oiled,  shellaced,  varnished,  or  waxed  in  the 
usual  way.  By  this  method  the  natural  grain  of  the  wood  is  not 
obscured.  In  fact,  the  figure  of  the  grain  is  sometimes  made 
more  conspicuous. 

Another  way  is  to  wash  the  wood  with  some  thin  stain  of  the 
desired  colour,  after  which  you  can  finish  in  the  usual  way. 
This  is  a  good  method,  for  the  wood  itself  is  coloured  to  some 
distance  below  the  surface,  and  after  it  is  finished  it  will  take 
considerable  bruising  to  expose  its  original  colour.  This  method 
also  sometimes  enhances  the  beauty  of  the  grain. 

The  poorest  way  to  stain,  but  a  very  common  one  with  amateurs 
and  in  cheap  work,  is,  instead  of  staining  the  wood  itself,  to  cover 
the  surface  with  coloured  varnish  or  shellac.  This  is  often  the 
cheapest  and  quickest  way  of  getting  a  desired  colour,  but  it  is 
decidedly  the  poorest  way.  Of  course,  no  coating  of  colour  put 
on  outside  can  be  as  durable  as  colour  imbedded  in  the  substance 
of  the  wood  itself,  and  scarring  or  injury  to  the  coating  exposes 
the  original  colour  beneath.  Besides  this,  the  grain  and  charac- 
ter of  the  wood  are  necessarily  obscured  by  a  coloured  coating. 
Wood  finished  in  this  way  almost  always  has  a  cheap,  artificial 
look,  and  you  can  usually  detect  the  fraud  at  a  glance.  There 
are  many  cheap  "  varnish  stains  "  or  coloured  varnishes,  but  you 
will  do  well  to  avoid  them,  unless  for  the  cheapest  and  poorest 
work. 

There  are  two  things  you  will  wish  to  do  in  staining.  One  is 
simply  to  darken  or  enrich  the  natural  colour  of  the  wood,  so  as 
to  give  it  at  once  the  rich,  deep,  mellow  tone  produced  by  age. 
This  is  always  the  best  way  to  do  when  it  will  give  the  colour  you 
want.  But  if  you  want  to  change  the  colour  entirely — to  make 
pine  wood  red  or  green,  or  cherry  black,  you  must  use  some 
chemical  process  that  will  develop  a  new  colour  in  the  wood,  or 
must  apply  a  regular  stain. 


Tools  and  Operations  497 

Raw  linseed  oil  alone,  well  rubbed  in  and  allowed  to  stand  be- 
fore applying  shellac  or  varnish,  will  deepen  and  bring  out  the 
natural  colouring  in  time  as  well  as  anything  else,  but  it  takes  a 
good  while.  Repeated  applications,  each  thoroughly  rubbed  in 
and  the  excess  rubbed  off,  and  after  standing  some  days  or  weeks, 
given  a  light  rubbing  down  with  fine  sandpaper,  then  another  oil- 
ing, and  so  on,  will  in  time  give  a  surface  of  beautiful  colour,  as 
well  as  a  soft  and  attractive  lustre.  But  to  carry  out  this  process 
may  take  months,  so  that  you  will  not  be  very  likely  to  practise 
it;  but  you  see  the  result  sometimes  on  old  wooden  tool-handles 
and  plane-stocks  which  have  been  so  treated.  If  you  do  not  care 
about  deepening  the  colour  greatly,  one  or  two  applications, 
allowed  to  stand  a  week  or  two  before  finishing,  will  often  be 
sufficient  and  will  make  a  great  difference  in  the  looks  of  your 
work,  and  take  off  that  raw,  fresh  look  peculiar  to  recently  cut 
wood. 

If  your  work  is  such  that  you  can  defer  the  shellacing  for  a 
year  or  so,  as  in  the  case  of  some  pretty  piece  of  furniture  to 
remain  in  the  house,  there  is  no  way  you  can  develop  the  richness 
of  the  wood  better  than  to  oil  it  and  let  it  stand  to  mellow, 
with  occasional  applications  of  oil  and  rubbing  down.  Then 
finally  rub  down  with  fine  sandpaper  and  shellac  in  the  usual 
way. 

To  hasten  the  process  we  must  apply  something  stronger  than 
oil.  If  the  work  is  of  oak,  shut  it  up  in  a  box  or  tight  closet, 
with  a  dish  of  strong  ammonia  on  the  floor.  Do  not  stay  in  the 
box  or  closet  yourself,  as  it  is  dangerous.  A  simpler  way  is  to 
wash  the  work  with  the  ammonia,  more  than  once  if  necessary. 
Have  the  room  well  ventilated  when  you  do  this,  and  do  not 
inhale  more  of  the  fumes  than  necessary.  Wetting  the  wood  is 
sometimes  a  disadvantage,  however,  in  glued-up  work,  and  it 
"  raises  the  grain,"  which  must  be  rubbed  down  with  fine  sand- 
paper before  finishing. 

To  deepen  the  colour  of  mahogany  or  cherry,  simply  wash  it 
with  lime-water  (a  simple  solution  of  common  lime  in  water)  as 


49^          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

many  times  as  may  be  necessary,  which  is  cheap  and  effective. 
After  this  process,  thoroughly  clean  out  all  cracks  and  corners 
before  sandpapering,  for  particles  of  the  lime  which  may  be  de- 
posited will  spoil  the  appearance  of  the  work  when  finished. 
This  process  preserves  the  natural  appearance  of  the  wood.  The 
only  drawback  is  the  necessity  of  getting  the  work  so  wet.  Some 
days  should  be  allowed  for  the  water  to  evaporate  before  shellac- 
ing. To  get  a  darker  shade,  apply  in  the  same  way  a  solution  of 
bichromate  of  potash  in  water. 

Whitewood  takes  stains  finely — much  better  than  pine.  Oak 
will  stain  almost  any  colour,  but  the  individuality  of  the  wood — 
the  character  of  its  grain  and  structure — is  so  strongly  marked 
that  it  is  poor  taste  to  attempt  to  stain  it  to  imitate  other  woods. 
If  you  stain  it,  stain  it  just  as  you  would  paint  it,  simply  for  the 
colour. 

A  good  way  for  indoor  work,  such  as  a  piece  of  furniture  or 
anything  of  the  sort  you  may  wish  to  colour,  is  to  mix  dry  pig- 
ments with  japan  and  then  thin  the  mixture  with  turpentine,  or 
turpentine  alone  can  be  used.  After  the  work  is  coloured  in  this 
way  put  on  a  couple  of  coats  of  varnish.  For  outside  work  you 
can  use  oil.  This  is  a  cheap  way  and  wears  well.  It  applies 
only  to  the  cheaper  woods  which  you  do  not  care  to  leave  of  the 
natural  colour.  For  black  inside  work  you  can  use  ivory-black, 
ground  in  japan  and  thinned  with  turpentine.  Ivory-black  or 
bone-black  are  superior  to  lampblack,  but  the  latter  will  do  very 
well  for  most  purposes.  Dragon's  blood  in  alcohol  is  used  to 
give  a  colour  similar  to  mahogany.  Alkanet  root  in  raw  linseed 
oil  will  give  a  warm  and  mellow  hue  to  mahogany  or  cherry. 

There  is  an  almost  endless  number  of  recipes  for  staining,  but 
such  others  as  you  need  you  can  learn  from  some  finisher  or 
painter,  for  the  limits  of  this  book  do  not  allow  fuller  treatment 
of  so  extensive  a  subject. 

Steel-Square. — See  Square. 

Steel-^Afool. — Long,  fine  steel  shavings  done  up  in  bundles 


Tools  and  Operations  499 

can  be  used  instead  of  sandpaper  for  some  purposes.  There  are 
various  degrees  of  fineness.  This  is  good  for  cleaning  off  paint 
and  for  smoothing  curved  surfaces,  but  should  not  be  used  until 
all  work  with  the  edge-tools  is  done,  because  of  the  particles  of 
the  metal.  It  can  be  used  for  "  rubbing  down  "  in  finishing. 

Straight-Bent  Chisel.— See  Chisel. 

Straight-Edge. — There  are  no  definite  dimensions  for  a 
straight-edge.  Any  piece  of  wood  that  is  straight  and  convenient 
to  use  can  be  so  called;  the  size  and  the  length  depending  on  the 
work  for  which  it  is  to  be  used,  from  a  common  ruler  to  a  long 
board.  The  edge  of  a  large  carpenter's  square  is  handy  for  short 
work.  Clear  white  pine  or  straight-grained  mahogany  is  good 
for  straight-edges,  but  a  straight-edge  is  not  the  easiest  thing  for 
a  beginner  to  make,  and  you  will  do  well  to  find  something 
straight  to  use  for  a  while  until  you  acquire  the  skill  to  make 
one — or  get  the  carpenter  to  make  you  one,  which  he  will  do  for 
a  very  small  sum  or  for  nothing. 

To  test  a  straight-edge,  mark  a  line  by  it,  then  turn  the  straight- 
edge over  and  see  if  it  still  coincides  with  the  line,  or  mark 
another  line  and  see  if  it  coincides  with  the  first  one.  Try  your 
straight-edges  by  this  test  once  in  a  while,  as  they  are  liable  to 
become  crooked.  In 
turning  the  edge  over, 
however,  do  not  re- 
verse the  ends,  as  in 
case  of  an  undulating 

curvature    the    curves 

j       •  FIG.  684. 

may   agree    and    give 

you  the  impression  that  the  edge  is  straight  when  it  is  not.  In 
the  first  case  shown  in  Fig.  684  (exaggerated)  this  would  not  hap- 
pen, but  in  the  second  case  (also  exaggerated)  it  might.  See 
Marking. 

Strop. — A  piece  of  hard,  smooth  leather  on  which  to  strop 
your  tools  you  can  easily  procure.  It  can  be  fastened  on  a  piece 


500          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

of  wood  (see  page  85).  Spread  on  it  a  paste  of  sweet  oil  and 
emery,  lard  oil  and  crocus  powder,  or  some  similar  preparation. 
A  pine  board  on  which  "  air-dust  "  has  accumulated  can  even 
be  used.  See  remarks  under  Sharpening. 

Tacks.- — Tacks  are  sold  as  one-ounce,  two-ounce,  and  so  on 
according  to  size. 

Do  not  use  tacks  for  fastening  wood  to  wood,  but  only  for 
fastening  leather  or  cloth  or  the  like  to  wood.  The  pointed 
wedge-shape  of  the  tack  tends  to  split  thin  wood,  and  is  not  at 
all  suitable  to  fasten  two  pieces  of  wood  together,  particularly  in 
thin  wood  or  near  the  edge.  Possibly  you  may  have  seen  some 
disastrous  results  from  the  attempt  to  tack  pieces  of  wood 
together. 

Tape-Measure. — This  article  (preferably  of  steel)  is  often 
useful,  though  not  nearly  as  important  for  an  amateur  to  buy  as 
many  other  things. 

Tenon. — See  Mortising. 

Tenon-Saw. — See  Saw  (Back-Saw"). 

Tool-Racks.— See  page  83. 

Toothed-Plane.— See  Plane. 

Truing  Surfaces. — To  true  a  curved  or  warped  surface,  as 
of  a  board,  lay  it  on  the  bench  with  the  rounded  side  down  and 
wedge  it  firmly  underneath  to  make  it  as  nearly  level  as  possible. 


FIG.  685.  FIG.  686. 

Then  scribe  a  line  with  the  compasses  across  each  end  of  the 
board  at  the  height  of  the  lowest  point  of  the  surface  (Fig.  685). 


Tools  and  Operations  501 

Cut  a  depression  or  kind  of  rabbet  at  each  end  down  to  this  line 
(Fig.  686).  Next,  by  the  use  of  winding-sticks  placed  on  each  of 
these  rabbets  you  can  easily  see  whether  they  are  in  line  (see 
Winding- sticks).  Alter  the  rabbets  if  necessary  to  get  them  in 
line.  Draw  lines  on  each  edge  connecting  the  bottoms  of  the 
rabbets,  and  plane  away  the  superfluous  wood  down  to  these  lines. 
When  this  is  done  the  top  of  the  board  will  be  true  or  in  the  same 
plane.  Test  it  by  placing  the  straight-edges  in  different  positions 
on  the  surface  and  sighting  as  before,  correcting  any  errors.  One 
side  of  the  board  being  made  true  in  this  way,  the  other  can  be 
made  parallel  by  gauging  a  line  all  around  the  edge,  measuring 
by  the  thinnest  point  of  the  board,  and  planing  off  the  superflu- 
ous wood  in  the  same  manner  as  the  first  side. 

You  can  sometimes  facilitate  the  process  of  planing  off  the 
superfluous  wood  by  making  cuts  with  the  saw  and  removing  part 
of  it  with  the  chisel,  or  by  planing  across  the  grain  (the  jack- 
plane  is  good  for  this  purpose),  or  paring  across  the  grain  with 
the  chisel,  or  any  such  method,  always  being  careful  not  to  cut 
quite  as  deep  as  the  intended  surface,  so  that  all  the  marks  and 
cuts  can  be  removed  by  the  final  planing.  See  Plane,  and  also 
page  179. 

Try-Square.— See  Square. 

Turning-Saw. — See  Saw. 

Turpentine. — See  Finishing  and  Painting. 

Twist-Drill. — The  twist-drill  is  much  better  than  the  gimlet- 
bit.  It  makes  a  good  hole,  bores  easily,  is  not  easily  dulled,  can 
be  used  upon  metal,  and  one  kind  in  common  use  can  be  easily 
kept  in  order  by  simply  sharpening  the  ends.  There  are  various 
patterns.  A  little  care  is  necessary,  however,  particularly  in 
hard  wood,  as  they  are  liable  to  be  snapped  by  bending.  See 
Bits. 

Varnish. — See  Finishing. 

Veining-Tool. — See  Carving-  Tools. 


502          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 


Vise. — See  page  65.     For  vise  for  metal-work,  see  page  70. 

Warping,  To  Remove. — Of  course  the  simplest  way  to 
straighten  a  warped  board  is  to  put  a  weight  on  it,  but  the  diffi- 
culty here  is  that  it  usually  will  stay  straight  only  while  the  weight 
is  on  it,  unless  you  leave  it  longer  than  the  patience  of  the  aver- 
age amateur  lasts.  To  do  this  (or  to  warp  a  straight  board 
either)  with  some  chance  of  success,  (i)  heat  one  side,  or  (2)  wet 
one  side,  or  (3)  wet  one  side  and  heat  the  other,  or  (4)  wet  both 


wet 


ctry 


wet 


sides  and  expose  one  to  the  fire 
(Fig.  687).  But  do  not  be  too  sure 
that  the  result  will  be  lasting.  Some- 
times it  will  and  sometimes  not.  An- 
other way  is  to  thoroughly  soak  the 
board,  press  it  into  shape  between 
clamps  or  under  a  weight,  and  leave 
it  until  dry;  a  week  or  more  is  none 
too  long,  and  boiling  water  is  better 
than  cold.  Simply  laying  a  board 
down  on  a  flat  surface  will  often 
cause  it  to  warp,  because  the  two 
sides  of  the  board  will  be  unequally 
exposed  to  the  action  of  the  atmos- 
phere. Planing  off  one  side  only,  or  planing  one  side  more  than 
the  other,  often  produces  the  same  effect.  See  pages  50-53  and 
Appendix. 

Wedges. — Wedges  are  in  constant  use  for  lifting  or  separating 
heavy  bodies,  as  doubtless  you  know,  and  the  principle  of  the 
wedge  comes  in  in  using  the  axe,  hatchet,  chisel,  knife,  and  the 
other  edge-tools  (see  page  25).  Besides  this  use  of  the  wedge 
you  will  often  find  it  valuable  to  tighten  or  clamp  objects  of 
various  kinds,  or  to  hold  them  firmly  in  place. 

If  you  wish  to  split  objects  or  tear  them  apart,  use  a  single 
wedge,  for  the  increasing  thickness  of  the  wedge  applied  at  one 
point  tears  or  splits  the  wood  apart.  But  if  you  merely  wish  to 


Tools  and  Operations  503 

squeeze,  or  press,  or  hold  firmly,  or  move,  without  damaging  the 
shape  of  the  wood,  use  double  wedges, — that  is,  two  wedges  having 
the  same  inclination  or  taper  and  pointing  opposite  ways.  You 
will  see  that  the  sides  of  the  double  wedge  (that  is,  the  outsides 
of  the  wedges)  will  be  parallel  no  matter  how  hard  you  drive  the 
separate  wedges,  so  that  the  pressure  will  be  exerted  without 
injuring  or  jamming  the  surfaces  against  which  the  wedge  bears 
(see  Fig.  333).  Short,  flaring  wedges  do  the  work  more  quickly, 
but  require  harder  blows  to  drive,  and  are  more  liable  to  slip. 
Long,  tapering  wedges  work  more  slowly,  more  easily,  and  are 
not  liable  to  slip.  You  will  also  use  wedging  to  secure  tenons 
and  dowels  (see  Mortising,  etc.). 

Whittling.— See  Knife. 

Winding-Sticks. — Two  straight-edges,  each  of  equal  width 
throughout,  can  be  laid  on  edge,  one  across  each  end  of  the  sur- 
face to  be  tested.  Stand  back  a  little  and  look  across  the  top 
edge  of  one  to  the  top  edge  of  the  other,  and  if  these  edges  agree 
you  may  know  at  once  that  there  is  no  winding  where  you  have 
placed  the  straight-edges  (Fig.  688).  By  putting  them  in  differ- 
ent positions  you  can  finally  determine  whether  the  whole  surface 
is  true  or  not. 


TRUC 


_ 


WINDING 

FiG.688.  FIG.  689. 

It  is  more  accurate  to  use  winding-sticks  considerably  longer 
than  the  width  of  the  piece  to  be  tested,  as  then  any  warping  or 
winding  will  be  exaggerated  and  more  easily  seen  (Fig.  689).  If 
the  upper  edges  of  the  sticks  are  thin,  or  "  feather-edged,"  it  is 
easier  to  tell  exactly  when  they  are  in  line,  but  this  does  not 
ordinarily  matter,  except  in  work  requiring  extreme  accuracy. 


504          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


To  find,  for  example,  when  the  legs  of  a  table,  chair,  or  the 
like  are  cut  so  that  the  article  will  stand  evenly,  turn  it  over  with 

the  legs  sticking  up,  put 
straight-edges  on  the  ends  of 
the  legs,  sight  across  these 
(Fig.  690),  and  trim  one  or  two 
legs  until  the  edges  are  in  line. 
See  Scribing  for  other  methods. 
Warping  or  winding  of  short 
pieces  can  be  detected  by  sim- 
ply laying  one  straight-edge  di- 


FIG.  690. 


agonally  from  corner  to  corner  (Fig.  691).     This  will  show  at 
once  which  parts  require  to  be  planed  to  make  the  surface  true. 


FIG.  691. 

Withdrawing  Nails. — When  withdrawing  nails  place  a  block 
under  the  hammer-head  as  shown  (Fig.  692),  using  more  blocks, 
if  necessary,  as  the  nail  is  withdrawn. 

To  draw  the  nails  from  boxes,  pry  up  a  board,  together  with 
the  nails,  a  short  distance — perhaps  y — and  then  with  a  sharp, 
quick  blow  of  the  hammer  pound  the  board  back  into  place,  not 
striking  the  nails  but  the  board  between  them.  This  will  usually 
leave  the  nail-heads  projecting  a  little  above  the  surface,  so 
that  you  can  draw  them  as  shown  in  Fig.  692,  and  thus  save 
splitting  or  defacing  the  boards  and  bending  the  nails,  as  usually 
results  from  smashing  or  wrenching  boxes  apart.  The  quick 
blow  drives  the  board  back  before  the  motion  has  time  to  com- 
municate itself  to  the  nails,  on  somewhat  the  same  principle  that 


Tools  and  Operations  505 

a  bullet  makes  a  round  hole  in  a  window  pane  without  smashing 
the  glass. 


FIG.  692. 

Wood-Filler. — See  Finishing. 

Wrench. — A  strong  wrench  is  often  very  serviceable  in  wood- 
working operations. 


APPENDIX 


Collection  of  Specimens  of  Wood. — Waste  pieces  of  ail 
the  common  woods  can  easily  be  obtained  at  the  wood  working 
shops.  Have  some  system  about  the  size  and  shape  of  the 
specimens.  Some  kinds  you  may  be  able  to  get  only  in  pieces 
of  such  shape  as  you  can  find  among  the  odds  and  ends  of  the 
shops,  and  many  rare  foreign  and  tropical  woods  you  can  obtain 
only  in  quite  small  pieces,  but  even  these  will  show  the  character 
of  the  wood  and  add  value  to  the  collection.  Waste  scraps  of 
veneers  of  rare  woods  can  be  glued  on  blocks  of  pine. 

The  specimens  will  be  most  valuable  if  you  can  get  them  out 
so  as  to  show  a  longitudinal  section  along  the  medullary  rays  (or 
through  the  heart),  a  longitudinal  section  at  right 
angles  to  the  medullary  rays  (or  tangential  to 
the  annual  rings),  and  a  cross  section  (Fig.  693). 
It  will  be  an  advantage  also  to  show  not  only  the 
heartwood  but  the  sapwood  and  bark.     If  you 
cannot  get  such  large  pieces  of  even  the  common 
woods,  a  collection  of  small  flat  blocks  will  be 
well  worth  making. 

The  specimens  will  show  to  best  advantage  if 
polished  (one  half  of  each  side  can  be  polished) 
or  finished  with  a  dull  lustre,  and  they  will  be 
good  objects  on  which   to   practise  finishing  (see  Finishing  in 
Part  V.). 

All  the  information  you  can  pick  up  about  the  strength,  dur- 
ability, toughness,  elasticity,  and  uses  of  the  various  woods  will 
be  sure  to  come  in  play  sooner  or  later.  The  gradations  of 
hardness,  density,  weight,  toughness,  elasticity,  etc.,  are  almost 
endless. 

507 


FIG.  693 


508          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Notice,  therefore,  the  weight,  colour,  hardness,  density,  and 
characteristic  odour  of  the  specimens  ;  the  proportion  of  heart 
to  sapwood,  and  the  colour  of  each ;  the  size  and  condition  of  the 
pith;  the  character  of  the  grain,  whether  coarse  or  fine,  close  or 
open  and  porous;  the  number,  arrangement,  size,  and  colour  of 
the  medullary  rays  (when  visible) ;  the  width  and  character  of  the 
annual  rings  (when  visible),  whether  wide  or  narrow,  with  many 
or  few  ducts  or  resin  canals.  You  will  find  many  things  to 
notice  in  some  woods.  Use  a  magnifying-glass  if  you  can. 

Notice  also  about  the  bark.  Hunt  up  all  the  woody  stems  you 
can,  compare  the  bark  of  the  different  specimens,  noting  its 
colour,  taste,  odour,  surface,  thickness,  and  the  different  ways 
it  cracks  and  is  cast  off;  and  notice  how  easily  you  can  learn  to 
tell  the  common  trees  by  the  bark  alone.  Sections  of  small  stems 
or  branches  will  often  show  the  character  of  the  wood  well. 

Note  what  you  can  about  the  character  and  habits  of  the  trees 
themselves  ;  the  height,  diameter,  age,  and  the  shape  and 
peculiarities  of  the  leaves.  In  this  connection,  a  collection  of 
leaves  will  also  be  interesting  to  make.  You  can  soon  learn  to 
tell  the  common  trees  by  their  leaves. 

Notice  how,  in  some  trees,  as  the  pines,  spruces,  firs,  the  stem 
grows  right  straight  up  to  the  top,  forming  a  spire-shaped  tree. 
This  is  called  an  excurrent  trunk  (Lat.,  excurrere,  to  run  out). 
Notice  how,  in  other  trees,  like  the  elm,  oak,  etc.,  the  stem 
branches  again  and  again  until  it  is  lost  in  the  branches.  This 
is  called  a  deliquescent  stem  (Lat.,  deliqueseere,  to  melt  away). 

Study  the  shape  and  arrangement  of  the  different  kinds  of 
trees  as  shown  in  outline  against  the  sky;  best,  perhaps,  when 
the  leaves  are  off.  You  can  learn  to  tell  the  common  trees  by 
their  outline.  Do  they  look  stout,  firm,  strong,  and  rugged,  or 
delicate,  yielding,  and  graceful  ?  To  a  certain  extent  you  can 
thus  form  an  idea  of  the  character  of  the  wood,  as  in  comparing 
the  pine,  with  its  comparatively  light  top  and  slender  leaves,  with 
the  heavy  growth  which  the  trunk  of  the  oak  has  to  sustain  in 
wind  and  snow. 


Appendix  509 

Preservation  of  Forests.— Forests  are  of  great  value  from 
their  effect  upon  the  climate,  making  it  more  equable.  They 
tend  to  cause  abundant  and  needed  rainfall  and  to  preserve  the 
moisture  when  fallen,  releasing  it  to  the  rivers  gradually,  and 
thus  preventing  abnormal  freshets  and  extreme  droughts.  By 
absorbing  and  parting  with  heat  slowly  they  cause  the  changes  of 
temperature  to  be  less  sudden  than  in  the  open  country.  They 
temper  the  heat,  and  they  serve  as  a  protection,  or  "  wind- 
break," to  adjacent  land.  Trees,  with  other  vegetation,  are 
essential  to  the  purification  of  the  air.  All  this  is  in  addition  to 
the  obvious  uses  of  supplying  fuel  and  wood  for  an  almost  end- 
less variety  of  purposes,  not  to  speak  of  the  value  of  trees  for 
shade  and  as  features  of  the  landscape. 

The  reckless  rate  at  which  the  forests  of  the  United  States  are 
being  destroyed  is  becoming  a  serious  matter,  not  merely  because 
of  depriving  woodworkers  of  the  materials  with  which  to  work, 
but  because  of  the  influence  of  the  forests  upon  the  climate,  the 
soil,  etc.,  upon  which  so  much  of  the  welfare  of  mankind  depends. 
At  the  present  rate  of  destruction  many  generations  cannot  pass 
before  the  supply  of  wood  will  be  practically  exhausted.  It  is 
every  year  becoming  more  difficult  to  obtain  native  lumber  of  the 
best  quality  and  large  size. 

One  of  the  most  serious  aspects  of  the  matter,  however,  is  in 
regard  to  the  washing  away  of  the  soil,  which  owes  not  merely  its 
origin  but  its  preservation  to  the  forest  and  other  vegetable 
growths.  Professor  Shaler  tells  us  that  "it  is  in  this  action  of 
the  rain  upon  the  bared  surface  of  the  ground  that  we  find  the 
principal  danger  which  menaces  man  in  his  use  of  the  earth." 

The  individual  woodworker  may  not  have  control  of  any 
forest  or  wood-lot,  but  he  can  at  least  use  his  influence  indirectly, 
when  opportunity  offers,  toward  needed  legislation  to  restrict, 
or  at  least  regulate,  the  improvident  waste  now  going  on,  and 
he  can  in  many  cases  take  advantage  of  Arbor  Day  to  plant  at 
least  one  tree  toward  preserving  the  balance  required  by 
nature. 


510          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Common  Woods  and  Some  of  their  Characteristics. — 

There  are  many  things  to  be  considered  by  the  beginner  when 
choosing  his  wood.  Many  of  these  points  have  been  treated  in 
Chapter  III.  (to  which  the  reader  is  referred),  but  a  few  addi- 
tional remarks  about  the  various  kinds  may  be  of  use. 

One  important  thing,  however,  to  be  borne  in  mind  before 
beginning,  is  to  select  straight-grained,  plain,  rather  soft,  and 
easily  worked  stock.  With  this  and  with  sharp  tools  you  will 
have  every  chance  of  success,  while  with  hard,  crooked-grained 
wood  and  with  dull  tools  you  will  be  well  started  on  the  road  to 
discouragement  and  failure. 

It  may  be  remarked,  incidentally,  that  beginning  with  soft 
woods,  such  as  white  pine,  calls  for  even  keener-edged  tools  than 
can  be  got  along  with  for  harder  woods,  like  oak.  This,  how- 
ever3  though  it  may  seem  a  disadvantage,  is  really  a  good  thing, 
for  it  compels  one  to  keep  his  tools  sharp.  You  will  soon  find 
that  it  is  impossible  to  do  even  passable  work  in  the  softer  woods 
without  sharp  tools,  while  with  harder  wood  you  may  succeed 
by  brute  force  in  mauling  the  work  into  tolerable  shape  without 
being  sufficiently  impressed  by  the  fact  that  your  tools  are  dull 
and  require  sharpening. 

Besides  the  familiar  fact  that  the  heartwood  is  usually  better 
than  the  sapwood,1  it  may  be  useful  to  remember  that,  as  a  rule, 
the  wood  from  a  young  tree  is  tougher  than  that  from  an  old  one; 
the  best,  hardest,  and  strongest  in  the  young  tree  usually  being 
nearest  the  heart,  while  in  an  old  tree  the  heart,  having  begun  to 
deteriorate,  is  softer  and  not  as  good  as  the  more  recently  formed 
growths  nearer  the  sapwood.  If  the  tree  is  in  its  prime  the  wood 
is  more  uniformly  hard  throughout.  The  sapwood,  as  a  rule,  is 
tougher  than  the  heartwood,  though  usually  inferior  in  other  re- 
spects; and  timber  light  in  weight  is  sometimes  tougher  than 
heavy  wood,  though  the  latter  is  often  stronger  and  more  durable 
and  preferable  for  some  purposes.  The  application  of  these 

1  In  elm,  ash,  and  hickory  the  sapwood  is  sometimes  considered  better  than 
the  heart. 


Appendix  511 

statements  varies  much  according  to  the  kind  of  wood  and  differ- 
ent circumstances,  for  the  growth  and  structure  of  trees  is  a  very 
complex  matter,  and  the  diversities  almost  infinite. 

It  may  be  well  to  bear  in  mind,  considering  the  great  variety 
of  purposes  for  which  the  amateur  uses  wood,  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  elasticity  needed  for  such  purposes  as  a  bow  or  horizon- 
tal bar,  and  the  toughness  required  for  the  ribs  of  a  canoe,  or  the 
wattles  of  a  basket.  In  the  former  case  the  material  must  not 
merely  bend  without  breaking,  but  must  spring  back  (or  nearly 
so)  to  its  former  shape  when  released,  as  with  lancewood  or  white 
ash;  while  in  the  latter  case  it  must  bend  without  breaking,  but 
is  not  required  to  spring  back  to  its  orginal  form  when  released, 
as  with  many  green  sticks  which  can  be  easily  bent,  but  have  not 
much  resilience.  These  two  qualities  are  found  combined  in 
endlessly  varying  degrees  in  all  woods.  Elastic  wood  must  ne- 
cessarily have  toughness  up  to  the  breaking-point,  but  tough  wood 
may  have  but  little  elasticity. 

Earliest  of  all  trees,  historically,  come  the  pines — the  conifers 
— and  then  the  broad-leaved  trees.  The  conifers,  or  needle-leaved 
trees,  include  the  pines,  firs,  spruces,  cypresses,  larches,  and 
cedars.  As  a  rule  they  contain  turpentine,  have  a  comparatively 
straight  and  regular  fibre  and  simple  structure,  are  usually  light, 
flexible,  and  elastic,  and  the  wood  is  more  easily  split  or  torn 
apart  than  that  from  the  broad-leaved  trees,  and  is  easily  worked. 
The  wood  of  the  broad-leaved  trees  is  more  complex  in  structure 
than  that  of  the  conifers  and,  as  a  rule,  harder,  and  for  many 
purposes  stronger  and  more  durable. 

Besides  the  woods  in  general  use  there  are  many  which  have 
merely  a  local  value  where  they  grow,  and  a  long  list  could  be 
made  of  the  woods  which  have  but  very  limited  uses,  as  well  as 
of  those  which,  from  their  scarcity,  hardness,  small  size,  or  other 
peculiarities  are  practically  out  of  the  question  for  the  beginner 
or  the  amateur,  except  on  rare  occasions. 

The  following  list  makes  no  claim  to  completeness,  but  may 
be  of  some  use  to  the  beginner. 


512          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

Apple. — This  wood  is  used  for  turning,  such  as  handles,  etc., 
and  for  other  small  work.  It  is  handsome,  fine-grained,  and 
somewhat  hard. 

Ash. — This  is  a  valuable  wood,  of  which  there  are  a  number 
of  varieties.  It  is  used  for  agricultural  implements,  carriage- 
building,  floors,  interior  finish,  cabinet-work,  etc.  Ash  is 
flexible,  tough,  and  elastic.  It  is  good  to  stand  a  quick  and 
violent  strain,  as  that  put  on  a  horizontal  bar  in  the  gymnasium, 
although  in  time  it  becomes  brittle.  White  ash  is  the  variety 
best  suited  for  such  purposes.  It  is  good  for  oars  and  the  like. 
Ash  is  of  a  rather  coarse  and  usually  straight-grained  texture, 
and  most  varieties  are  not  difficult  to  work. 

Basswood. — The  wood  of  the  American  linden,  or  basswood, 
is  soft  and  light  in  substance,  white  or  light  brown  in  colour,  is 
easily  bent  but  not  easily  split,  free  from  knots  but  prone  to  warp, 
and  is  used  for  cabinet-work,  carriage-work,  and  for  various 
minor  articles.  It  can  be  obtained  in  boards  of  considerable 
width. 

Beech. — This  close-grained  wood,  hard,  firm,  strong,  and 
taking  a  good  polish,  is  extensively  used  for  machine-frames, 
handles,  plane-stocks,  some  kinds  of  furniture,  and  a  variety  of 
minor  articles,  but  will  not  often  be  needed  by  the  amateur. 
The  medullary  rays  are  noticeable. 

Birch. — The  birch,  of  which  there  are  many  species,  is  widely 
distributed  in  North  America,  and  furnishes  an  important  wood, 
which  is  used  for  a  great  variety  of  purposes, — for  furniture, 
floors,  interior  finish,  turning,  and  a  long  list  of  minor  articles. 
It  is  close-grained,  and  most  varieties  are  hard  and  strong,  but 
not  difficult  to  work,  and  are  susceptible  of  being  given  a  smooth 
satiny  surface  and  a  fine  finish.  The  uses  of  the  bark  of  the 
canoe  birch  are  familiar  to  all.  This  tree  is  good  not  merely  for 
canoes,  but  its  wood  is  used  for  paddles,  skis,  and  the  like. 

The  black  birch  is  especially  esteemed  for  furniture  and  interior 


Appendix  513 

work.  It  is  of  a  beautiful  reddish-  or  yellowish-brown  colour,  and 
much  of  it  is  beautifully  figured  with  wavy  and  curly  grain.  It 
is  frequently  stained  in  imitation  of  mahogany,  a  deception  much 
assisted  by  the  resemblance  in  grain,  and  not  easily  detected  if 
skilfully  done. 

Black  Walnut. — Large  black-walnut  trees  are  practically 
almost  as  thoroughly  exterminated  in  America  as  the  bisons  of 
the  Western  prairies.  The  wood  can  be  obtained,  however, 
though  it  is  not  abundant  in  very  wide  boards.  It  is  durable, 
usually  straight-grained,  moderately  strong  and  hard,  not  difficult 
to  work,  holds  glue  well,  and  can  be  given  a  fine  finish.  It  holds 
its  shape  well,  and  is  an  excellent  wood  for  many  purposes  in 
interior  finishing,  cabinet-work,  and  for  various  minor  articles. 
It  has  been  very  extensively  used  for  gun-stocks.  Its  sombre 
colour  is  not  always  admired,  but  it  is  an  excellent  wood  for 
amateur  work.  When  mottled  or  in  the  form  of  burl  it  is,  of 
course,  harder  to  smooth.  The  English  and  Italian  varieties  of 
walnut  have  long  been  used. 

Boxwood. — This  wood  is  distinguished  for  its  extremely  com- 
pact and  even  grain.  It  is  hard  and  heavy,  is  used  in  turning, 
wood-engraving,  and  the  like,  but  is  not  likely  to  be  required  by 
the  amateur. 

Butternut. — This  wood,  found  in  North  America,  has  a 
rather  coarsely  marked  grain,  is  soft,  light,  of  a  yellowish-brown 
colour,  and  when  finished  makes  a  handsome  wood  for  furniture 
and  interior  work. 

It  is  easily  worked,  but  is  not  the  easiest  material  for  the 
amateur  to  smooth  satisfactorily,  because  of  the  peculiar  texture 
of  the  wood,  which  tends  to  "  roug^  up"  unless  the  tools  are 
very  keen. 

Buttonwood. — See  Sycamore. 

Cedar. — This  tree,  found  quite  aoundantly  in  the  United 
States,  furnishes  a  wood  which  is  exceedingly  durable,  particu- 
larly where  exposed  to  the  alternations  of  moisture  and  dryness, 

33 


5  H          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

as  when  inserted  in  the  ground  or  in  situations  near  the  ground, 
and  is  very  valuable  for  fence-posts,  foundation-posts  for  build- 
ings, railroad  ties,  shingles,  pails,  and  the  like.  Some  varieties 
of  cedar  are  used  for  building  purposes  and  interior  fittings. 

The  varieties  of  white  cedar  are  light,  of  good  grain  and  easy 
to  work,  soft,  and  not  particularly  strong,  but  durable  and  admir- 
ably adapted  to  such  purposes  as  boat-building,  for  which  it  is 
largely  used.  Red  cedar,  which  is  in  many  respects  similar  to  the 
other  varieties,  is  distinguished  by  its  colour  and  by  its  strong 
fragrance,  which,  being  obnoxious  to  insects,  makes  it  excellent 
for  chests  and  closets.  It  is  used  for  pencils. 

Cherry. — This  is  a  valuable  wood  for  the  amateur.  It  is 
found  extensively  in  the  United  States.  It  is  fine-grained,  of 
moderate  hardness,  not  difficult  to  work,  and  of  a  beautiful 
reddish-brown  or  yellowish-brown  colour.  It  has  a  satin-like 
surface  when  smoothed,  and  can  be  given  a  beautiful  finish.  The 
black  cherry  is  especially  esteemed.  It  can  be  obtained,  so  far  as 
it  has  not  been  exterminated,  in  quite  wide  boards.  Cherry 
mellows  and  grows  richer  in  colour  with  age.  The  varieties 
having  a  wavy  texture  are  especially  beautiful.  It  is  much  used 
for  cabinet-work,  interior  finish,  and  for  many  purposes.  The 
beginner  should  select  only  the  softer  and  straight-grained 
varieties,  as  some  of  the  harder  and  denser  kinds  are  exceedingly 
hard  to  smooth. 

Chestnut. — The  value  of  this  wood  to  the  amateur  lies  chiefly 
in  its  durability.  It  lasts  well  in  or  near  the  ground  or  exposed 
to  the  weather.  It  can  be  used  for  framing,  for  posts  for  a  fence 
or  to  support  a  building,  and  for  similar  purposes.  It  is  soft, 
coarse-grained,  not  very  strong,  but  is  not  difficult  to  work. 

Cottonwood. — This  is  a  soft,  light,  close-grained  wood,  used 
for  woodenware,  boxes,  pulp,  etc. 

Cypress. — This  wood  is  found  in  North  America,  Mexico, 
parts  of  Asia  and  Europe.  It  is  a  valuable  material,  yellowish 


Appendix  515 

or  yellowish-brown  in  colour,  very  durable  when  exposed  to  the 
weather  or  in  contact  with  the  soil,  light,  soft,  easily  worked,  and 
is  used  for  general  lumber  purposes  for  which  pine  is  used,  but 
to  which  it  is  superior  for  withstanding  exposure.  It  is  used  for 
interior  finish,,  doors,  clapboards,  shingles,  cabinet-work,  boat- 
building, posts,  and  a  great  variety  of  purposes.  It  takes  a  fine 
finish.  The  cypress  of  the  Southern  United  States  is  of  large 
size,  and  the  wood  is  of  beautiful  figure  and  colouring.  Valuable 
varieties  are  found  upon  the  Pacific  coast. 

Deal. — See  Pine  and  Spruce. 

Ebony. — The  excessive  hardness  of  ebony  renders  it  unsuited 
for  amateur  work.  It  is  also  expensive.  It  is  very  hard  and 
solid,  with  black  heartwood  and  white  sapwood,  and  is  used  for 
furniture,  turning,  and  small  articles. 

Elm. — This  useful  wood,  strong,  tough,  and  durable,  usually 
flexible,  heavy  and  hard,  is  extensively  used  in  some  of  its 
varieties  for  boat-building,  the  frames  of  agricultural  implements, 
yokes,  wheel-hubs,  chairs,  cooperage,  and  many  other  purposes. 
Some  species  are  very  good  for  continued  exposure  to  wet.  The 
rock  elm  is  a  valuable  variety,  esteemed  for  flexibility  and  tough- 
ness as  well  as  durability  and  strength. 

Fir. — See  Pine  and  Spruce. 

Hemlock. — This  wood,  valuable  for  its  bark,  is  cheap,  coarse- 
grained and  subject  to  shakes,  brittle  and  easily  split,  and  some- 
what soft,  but  not  easy  to  work.  It  is  unfit  for  nice  work,  but 
can  be  used  for  rough  framing  and  rough  boarding,  for  which  its 
holding  nails  well  renders  it  suitable. 

Hickory. — This  wood,  found  in  the  eastern  parts  of  North 
America,  is  highly  esteemed  for  its  strength  and  great  elasticity. 
It  is  hard,  tough,  heavy,  and  close-grained.  It  is  largely  used 
for  carriage-work,  agricultural  implements,  hoops,  axe-helves, 
and  the  like.  It  is  hard  to  work.  The  shagbark  is  especially 
valued  for  timber. 


516          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Holly. — This  wood  is  quite  hard,  close-grained,  and  very 
white,  though  it  does  not  retain  the  purity  of  its  colour.  It  is 
used  for  small  articles  of  cabinet-work  and  for  turning. 

Lancewood. — The  use  of  this  wood  for  bows,  fishing-rods, 
and  such  purposes  has  been  extensive.  It  is  distinguished  for  its 
elasticity. 

Lignum  Vitae. — The  extreme  hardness,  solidity,  and  dur- 
ability of  lignum  vitse  make  it  of  great  value  for  pulley-sheaves, 
balls  for  bowling,  mallets,  small  handles,  and  turned  objects.  It 
is  too  excessively  hard  for  the  beginner  to  use. 

Locust. — The  woo'd  of  the  locust  of  North  America  is  hard, 
strong,  heavy,  exceedingly  durable,  and  of  yellowish  or  brownish 
colour.  It  is  a  valuable  wood,  and  is  used  extensively  for  posts 
for  fences  and  for  the  support  of  buildings,  for  shipbuilding,  and 
for  other  work  to  be  subjected  to  exposure  or  to  contact  with  the 
ground.  It  is  used  in  turning,  but  not  extensively  for  interior 
work. 

Mahogany. — This  highly  valuable  wood,  which  did  not  come 
into  general  use  until  the  eighteenth  century,  is  found  in  the 
West  Indies,  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  some  other  regions. 
It  is  very  durable.  The  colour  is  found  in  a  great  variety  of 
shades  from  golden-brown  to  deep  reddish-brown.  Some  varieties 
are  light  and  quite  soft,  even  spongy,  while  others  (the  best)  are 
very  hard  and  heavy,  close-grained,  and  strong.  In  some  kinds 
the  grain  is  quite  straight,  in  others  curved  and  twisted  into  an 
endless  variety  of  crooked  shapes,  the  latter  being  the  most 
beautiful  for  ornamental  work,  but  more  liable  to  change  of 
shape  than  the  straight-grained  varieties. 

The  straight-grained  varieties  change  their  shape  but  little, — 
less  than  most  woods, — and  are  therefore  excellently  suited  for 
the  framework  or  structural  parts  of  cabinet-work,  for  pattern- 
making,  and  the  like.  The  so-called  baywood  holds  its  shape 
well  and  is  easily  worked,  but  is  not  especially  beautiful.  The 
better  grades  of  mahogany  grow  darker  and  richer  in  colour  with 


Appendix  517 

age,  but  some  varieties  become  bleached  and  lustreless  with 
exposure. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  value  for  interior  finishing,  for  furniture, 
and  for  cabinet-work  generally,  and  is  also  used  for  many  other 
purposes. 

The  term  mahogany  is  used  in  commerce  in  a  rather  compre- 
hensive way.  Mahogany  from  San  Domingo  has  long  been  highly 
esteemed,  but  is  now  difficult  or  impossible  to  obtain.  The 
light-coloured  variety  known  as  white  mahogany  is  much  valued 
for  its  beauty. 

Mahogany  is  excellent  for  holding  glue.  It  can  be  obtained  in 
wide  pieces,  thus  often  saving  the  necessity  of  gluing.  It  can  be 
given  a  beautiful  dull  finish  or  a  high  polish,  as  may  be  desired. 

The  beginner  should  only  attempt  the  plain,  softer,  straight- 
grained  kinds  of  mahogany  at  first.  The  other  varieties  require 
much  skill  to  smooth  and,  in  case  of  the  harder  pieces,  even  to 
work  at  all;  and  these,  however  beautiful  they  may  be,  should  be 
deferred  until  considerable  proficiency  has  been  attained. 

Maple. — The  maple  grows  freely  in  the  United  States,  and  is 
much  used  for  a  great  variety  of  purposes,  the  sugar  or  rock  maple 
being  especially  esteemed.  It  is  close-grained,  hard,  strong, 
heavy,  and  of  a  light  yellowish-,  reddish-,  or  brownish-white 
colour  (sometimes  almost  white,  though  found  in  varying  shades), 
and  can  be  smoothed  to  a  satin-like  surface  and  be  given  a  good 
finish.  It  can  be  stained  satisfactorily.  The  curly  or  wavy 
varieties  furnish  wood  of  much  beauty,  the  peculiar  contortion 
of  the  grain  known  as  "  bird's-eye  "  being  much  admired.  Maple 
is  extensively  used  for  cabinet-work  and  interior  finishing,  floors, 
machine-frames,  work-benches,  turning,  and  a  great  variety  of 
miscellaneous  articles. 

There  are  a  number  of  varieties  of  the  maple.  The  beginner 
should  confine  himself  at  first  to  the  softer  and  straight-grained 
specimens,  as  the  other  kinds  are  hard  to  work  and  to  smooth. 

Oak.— Of  all  the  broad-leaved  trees  the  oak  is  probably  the 


518          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

most  valuable,  and  has  for  ages  stood  as  a  type  of  strength.  It 
is  widely  scattered  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  and  nearly  three 
hundred  varieties  have  been  noted. 

Oak  is  distinguished  for  its  combination  of  useful  qualities. 
It  is  hard,  tough,  elastic,  heavy,  durable,  stiff  (except  after  steam- 
ing, when  it  readily  bends),  and  durable  when  exposed  to  the 
weather  or  to  the  soil.  Oak  is  more  or  less  subject  to  checking. 
It  is  strongly  impregnated  with  tannic  acid,  which  tends  to  de- 
stroy iron  fastenings. 

American  white  oak.  This  important  variety  is  found  in  North 
America,  and  from  it  is  obtained  most  excellent  timber.  It  is 
used  for  a  variety  of  purposes  too  great  to  be  specified,  from  the 
"construction  of  buildings  and  ships  to  furniture  and  agricultural 
implements,  carriages,  etc.  It  is  an  invaluable  wood. 

British  oak  has  long  been  held  in  the  highest  regard  for  its 
combination  of  valuable  qualities,  and  has  been  used  for  more 
purposes  than  can  be  here  mentioned. 

The  live  oak,  found  in  southern  parts  of  North  America,  may 
be  mentioned  as  a  valuable  wood,  very  strong,  tough,  and  dur- 
able, which,  before  the  introduction  of  iron  and  steel  in  ship- 
building, was  extensively  used  in  that  business  ;  but  it  is 
excessively  hard  and  unsuited  to  amateur  work. 

Varieties  of  red  oak  are  extensively  used,  but,  though  valuable, 
are  of  inferior  quality  to  the  white  oak.  Other  varieties  largely 
used  in  England  and  on  the  Continent  are  seldom  marketed  in 
the  United  States. 

Pear. — The  wood  of  the  pear  tree  is  somewhat  like  that  of  the 
apple  tree.  It  can  be  readily  carved. 

Pine. — First  and  foremost  among  the  needle-leaved  trees 
comes  the  pine,  of  which  about  seventy  species  are  known.  The 
white  pine,  known  in  England  as  yellow  pine  and  also  as  Wey- 
mouth  pine,  is  widely  distributed  in  America,  and  is,  or  has  been, 
our  most  valuable  timber  tree,  but  seems  to  be  doomed  to  rapid 
extinction,  at  least  so  far  as  the  wide,  clear  boards  and  planks  of 


Appendix  519 

old-growth  timber  are  concerned,  which  are  now  exceedingly 
hard  to  obtain. 

There  is  no  better  wood  for  the  beginner  than  clear  white  pine 
for  all  purposes  to  which  it  is  suited. 

It  is  light,  stiff,  straight-grained  and  of  close  fibre,  easily 
worked,  can  be  easily  nailed,  and  takes  a  good  finish.  When 
allowed  to  grow  it  has  reached  a  large  size  (as  in  the  so-called 
"  pumpkin  "  pine),  furnishing  very  wide,  clear  boards,  of  beautiful 
texture  and  with  a  fine,  satiny  surface.  It  is  of  a  light  yellowish- 
brown  colour,  growing  darker  with  time.  It  is  soft,  resinous, 
and  of  moderate  strength.  Pine  is  cut  into  lumber  of  many 
forms,  and  is  used  for  inside  finishing  of  houses,  for  many  pur- 
poses of  carpentry  and  cabinet-making,  for  masts  and  spars,  for 
clapboards,  shingles,  and  laths,  doors,  sashes,  blinds,  patterns 
for  castings,  and  a  long  list  of  different  purposes.  It  holds  glue 
exceedingly  well  and  takes  paint  well. 

Other  varieties,  as  the  sugar  pine,  the  Canadian  red  pine,  the 
yellow  pine,  etc.,  grow  in  America.  White  pine  is  also  found  in 
Europe.  The  Scotch  pine  or  Norway  pine,  known  also  as  red, 
Scotch,  or  yellow  fir,  and  as  yellow  deal  and  red  deal,1  is  the  com- 
mon pine  of  the  North  of  Europe,  hence  its  name,  Pinus  sylvestris, 
pine  of  the  forest.  It  is  hard,  strong,  not  very  resinous,  and  is 
extensively  used. 

Southern  or  Hard  Pine.  This  very  important  timber  is  found 
on  the  Southern  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  very  hard,  heavy,  and  resinous,  with  coarse  and  strongly 
marked  grain.  It  is  durable,  strong,  and  not  easily  worked  by 
the  beginner,  and  is  hard  to  nail  after  seasoning.  It  is  exten- 
sively used  for  girders,  floor-timbers,  joists,  and  many  kinds  of 
heavy  timber  work,  including  trestles,  bridges,  and  roofs,  for 
masts  and  spars,  for  general  carpentry,  floors,  decks,  and  interior 

1  The  term  deal,  though  often  loosely  applied  to  the  wood  of  the  pine  and 
fir,  properly  refers  to  planks  of  these  woods  cut  more  than  7"  wide  and  6'  long 
— usually  3"  thick  and  9"  wide.  The  term  is  common  in  Great  Britain  but  not 
in  the  United  States, 


520          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

finish,  railway  cars,  railway  ties,  and  many  other  purposes,  and, 
in  addition,  for  the  manufacture  of  turpentine. 

Other  varieties  of  hard  pine  are  sold  and  used  successfully  for 
the  same  purposes,  all  under  the  common  name  of  hard  pine, 
Southern  pine,  Georgia  pine,  yellow  hard  pine,  etc.  Another 
variety  of  hard  "  pitch  "  pine  (Pinus  rigida],  often  confused  with 
the  Southern  pine,  is  heavy,  resinous,  and  durable,  but  not  suited 
for  the  better  class  of  work. 

Plum. — This  is  a  fine-grained,  hard  wood,  used  for  turning, 
engraving,  etc. 

Redwood. — The  two  varieties  of  the  giant  Sequoia  of  the 
Pacific  coast  are  the  Sequoia  sempervirens  and  the  Sequoia  gigantea 
or  Wellingtonia.  The  former,  the  most  important  tree  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  is  of  immense  size  (supposed  to  reach  a  height  of 
even  four  hundred  feet),  red  in  colour,  rather  soft,  light,  and 
moderately  strong,  easily  worked  and  finished,  and  very  durable 
when  exposed  to  the  soil.  It  is  used  for  general  lumber  pur- 
poses, carpentry,  interior  finish,  posts,  tanks,  shingles,  and  a 
great  variety  of  uses. 

The  S.  gigantea  or  Wellingtonia,  which  has  the  largest  trunk  in 
the  world,  is  also  red  in  colour,  coarse-grained,  rather  weak,  soft 
and  light  in  texture,  and  of  great  durability  when  exposed  to  the 
soil.  It  is  used  for  lumber  and  general  building  purposes,  posts, 
shingles,  etc.  These  are  the  "  Big  Trees,"  thought  in  some  in- 
stances to  be  even  five  thousand  years  old,  and  of  which  the 
familiar  stories  are  told  about  a  stage-coach  having  been  driven 
through  a  hollow  tree,  and  about  twenty-five  people  having 
danced  at  one  time  upon  a  stump. 

Rosewood. — This  wood,  of  handsome  grain  and  colouring, 
has  been  much  admired  and  extensively  used  for  veneering. 
It  is  hard  and  heavy  and  of  a  peculiar  texture,  which  seems 
oily  to  the  touch.  It  is  not  well  suited  to  amateur  work,  and  is 
expensive. 


Appendix  521 

Satinwood.— This  handsome  yellowish-brown  wood  is  hardly 
to  be  considered  by  the  amateur  except  for  the  occasional  use  of 
a  small  piece. 

Spruce. — The  wood  of  the  spruce,  of  which  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  varieties,  is  quite  abundant,  is  light  and  straight-grained, 
and  comparatively  free  from  large  knots.  It  is  largely  used  for 
many  of  the  same  purposes  as  white  pine,  to  which  it  is  inferior 
for  interior  finish  and  fine  work,  but  superior  in  strength,  hard- 
ness, and  toughness.  Both  white  and  black  spruce  are  extens- 
ively used  for  carpentry,  interior  finish,  flooring,  fencing,  and 
inferior  woodwork  generally.  It  has  the  great  disadvantage  of 
curling  and  twisting  and  springing  badly,  and  is  not  as  nice  to 
work  as  white  pine.  Spruce  of  good  quality  makes  good  paddles, 
spars,  and  the  like,  and  is  valuable  for  such  work.  The  wood 
of  the  Norway  spruce  is  known  in  England  as  white  deal. 

Sycamore. — This  handsome  wood,  found  in  various  parts  of 
the  world,  and  of  a  light  yellowish  or  reddish-brown  colour,  is 
esteemed  for  interior  work.  The  medullary  rays  are  noticeable. 
It  is  rather  hard,  but  not  very  difficult  to  work.  It  is  not  durable 
for  outside  work  exposed  to  the  weather.  Known  also  as  Button- 
wood. 

Walnut.— See  Black  Walnut. 

Whitewood. — Like  white  pine,  whitewood  is  an  excellent 
wood  for  the  early  attempts  of  the  beginner. 

Whitewood,  which  is  by  no  means  white,  but  greenish-  or 
brownish-yellow,  is  the  name  applied  to  the  wood  of  the  tulip 
tree.  This  tree  attains  a  large  size,  thus  furnishing  wide  boards, 
which  are  of  such  straight  and  even  grain  and  so  free  from  knots 
as  to  be  of  great  use  for  many  purposes.  It  is  brittle  and  soft, 
but  light  and  very  easily  worked.  It  is  not,  for  most  purposes, 
as  reliable  a  wood  as  white  pine,  but  is  extensively  used  in  the 
wood-working  arts.  It  is  more  liable  to  warp  and  twist  than  pine. 
It  takes  a  stain  exceedingly  well, 


522          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

Willow. — An  important  use  of  this  wood  is  for  baskets.  It 
will  not  often  be  required  by  the  beginner,  except  for  whistles. 

Yew. — This  wood,  like  lancewood,  is  distinguished  for  its 
elasticity,  and  is  highly  esteemed  for  bows  and  the  like. 

Many  other  woods  can  be  alluded  to,  as  catalpa  (for  posts  and 
the  like),  elder  (for  various  small  articles),  dogwood  (for  turning 
and  the  like),  gum  (for  various  common  articles),  hornbeam  or 
ironwood  (for  mallets,  handles,  wheel-cogs,  etc.),  poplar  (for 
pulp),  sassafras  (for  posts,  hoops,  etc.),  teak  (from  the  East, 
strong  and  valuable),  tupelo  (hubs  of  wheels,  etc.),  and  a  great 
variety  of  others  which  cannot  be  specified,  as  they  are  but  seldom 
required  by  the  amateur  and  never  needed  by  the  beginner. 

Felling  and  Seasoning. — A  tree  should  usually  be  cut  for 
timber  at  or  near  its  maturity,  as  a  young  tree  has  too  much  sap- 
wood  and  will  not  be  as  strong  and  dense  or  durable,  while  an 
old  one  is  likely  to  get  brittle  and  inelastic  and  the  centre  of  the 
heartwood  is  liable  to  decay,  being  the  oldest  portion.  A  young 
tree,  though  softer  and  not  so  durable,  furnishes  a  tougher  and 
more  elastic  wood,  and  sometimes  has  a  finer  grain. 

Trees  differ  so  much,  and  the  uses  to  which  the  wood  is  to  be 
put  are  so  various,  that  no  exact  ages  can  be  set  for  cutting — 
probably  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  years  for  good  timber,  to 
make  a  rough  statement.  Some  trees  furnish  excellent  timber  at 
a  much  greater  age  than  one  hundred  years.  Pine  is  thought  to 
be  ripe  for  cutting  at  about  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  years  of 
"  age,  oak  at  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  years  or  more,  and  the 
various  other  woods  mature  at  different  ages. 

Midwinter,  or  the  dry  season  in  tropical  regions,  is  usually 
preferred  for  felling,  because  the  sap  is  quiet.  Decay  sets  in 
more  rapidly  in  the  sapwood  and  between  the  wood  and  the  bark 
during  the  period  of  active  growth,  because  of  the  perishable 
nature  of  the  substances  involved  in  the  growth.  Midsummer  is 
considered  equally  good  by  some. 


Appendix  523 

The  various  methods  of  cutting  the  log  into  the  lumber  of  com- 
merce have  been  treated  in  Chapter  III.,  to  which  the  reader  is 
referred.  In  this  connection  it  will  be  .noticed  that,  although 
boards  cut  through  or  near  the  middle  are,  as  a  rule,  the  best, 
when  they  contain  the  pith  they  are  sometimes  valueless  in  the 
centre,  as  well  as  when,  in  the  case  of  an  old  tree,  decay  has  be- 
gun at  that  point. 

As  the  water  evaporates  gradually  from  green  wood  exposed  to 
the  air  but  protected  from  the  weather,  one  might  infer  that  in 
time  it  would  evaporate  entirely,  leaving  the  wood  absolutely  dry, 
just  as  the  water  will  entirely  disappear  from  a  tumbler  or  a  tea- 
kettle. This  is  not  so,  however.  The  drying  goes  on  until  there 
is  only  about  ten  to  twenty  per  cent,  of  moisture  left,  but  no 
amount  of  open-air  seasoning  will  entirely  remove  this  small  per 
cent,  of  moisture,  the  amount  varying  with  the  temperature  and 
the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere.  It  can  be  got  rid  of  only  by 
applying  heat,  kiln-drying,  baking,  currents  of  hot  air,  vacuum 
process,  or  some  artificial  method  of  seasoning.  After  having 
completely  dried  the  wood  by  any  of  these  methods,  if  it  is  again 
exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  it  absorbs  moisture  quite  rapidly 
until  it  has  taken  up  perhaps  fifteen  per  cent.,  more  or  less,  of  its 
own  weight.  So  you  see  that,  though  you  may  by  artificial  means 
make  wood  entirely  dry,  it  will  not  stay  in  this  unnatural  condi- 
tion unless  in  some  way  entirely  protected  from  the  atmosphere 
at  once,  but  will  reabsorb  the  moisture  it  has  lost  until  it  reaches 
a  condition  in  harmony  with  the  atmosphere.  Recent  investiga- 
tions show  that  the  very  fibre  or  substance  of  the  wood  itself  im- 
bibes and  holds  moisture  tenaciously,  this  being  additional  to  the 
water  popularly  understood  to  be  contained  in  the  pores  or 
cavities  of  the  wood. 

There  are  various  other  methods  besides  kiln-drying  (referred 
to  in  Chapter  III.)  of  seasoning  and  of  hastening  the  drying  pro- 
cess. Wood  is  sometimes  soaked  in  water  before  being  seasoned. 
This  assists  in  removing  the  soluble  elements  of  the  sap,  but  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the  process  improves  the  quality  of  the  wood, 


524          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


Smoking  and  steaming  are  also  resorted  to.  Small  pieces  can 
readily  be  smoked,  which  hardens  the  wood  and  adds  to  its 
durability, — a  method  which  has  been  known  for  centuries, — but 
care  must  be  taken  not  to  burn,  scorch,  or  crack  the  wood. 

Decay    and    Preservation. — Timber   decays   fastest   when 
alternately  wet  and  dry,  as  in  the  piles  of  a  wharf,  fence-posts, 

and  the  like,  or  when  subjected 
to  a  hot,  moist,  close  atmosphere, 
as  the  sills  and  floor-timbers  situ- 
ated over  some  damp  and  unven- 
tilated  cellar.  Fig.  694  shows 
the  decay  caused  by  alternate 
wetness  and  dryness,  while  the 
parts  above  and  below  are  still 
sound. 

Wood  lasts  the  best  when  kept 
dry  and  well  ventilated.  When 
kept  constantly  wet  it  is  some- 
what softened,  and  will  not  resist 
so  much,  but  it  does  not  decay. 
Recently,  upon  cutting  a  slab 
from  the  outside  of  a  large  log 
taken  from  the  bed  of  a  river, 

where  it  had  lain  for  one  hundred  years  or  more,  the  interior 
proved  as  sound  and  clear  as  could  be  found  in  any  lumber-yard. 
Undoubtedly,  however,  such  long  submersion  lessens  the  elastic 
strength  of  timber  after  it  is  dried.  That  is  not,  however,  an 
extreme  example  of  durability.  Wood  has  been  taken  from 
bogs  and  ancient  lake-dwellings  after  being  preserved  for  ages. 
Piles  were  taken  from  the  Old  London  Bridge  after  about  650 
years  of  service.  Piles  placed  in  the  Rhine  about  2000  years  ago 
have  been  found  quite  sound  during  the  present  century;  and 
piles  are  now  regularly  used,  as  you  doubtless  know,  for  the 
support  of  the  most  massive  stone  buildings  and  piers,  but  only 


FIG.  694. 


Appendix  525 


where  they  are  driven  deep  in  the  ground  or  below  the  low-water 
line.  Many  examples  of  the  durability  of  wood  kept  dry  are 
found  in  European  structures.  Timbers  put  into  the  roof  of 
Westminster  Abbey  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  are  still  in  place, 
and  the  roof-timbers  of  some  of  the  older  Italian  churches  remain 
in  good  condition. 

Thorough  seasoning,  protection  from  the  sun  and  rain,  and 
the  free  circulation  of  air  are  the  essentials  to  the  preservation  of 
timber. 

Many  preparations  and  chemical  processes  have  been  tried  for 
the  preservation  of  wood. 

Creosote  is  one  of  the  best  preservatives  known.  Insects  and 
fungi  are  repelled  by  its  odour.  The  modern  so-called  "  creosote 
stains  "  are  excellent,  not  very  expensive,  and  easily  applied. 
They  are  only  suitable  for  outside  work,  however,  on  account  of 
the  odour. 

Coal-tar  and  wood-tar  or  pitch,  applied  hot  in  thin  coats,  are 
also  good  and  cheap  preservatives  for  exposed  woodwork. 

Charring  the  ends  of  fence-posts  by  holding  them  for  a  short 
time  over  a  fire  and  forming  a  protecting  coating  of  charcoal  is 
another  method  which  has  been  extensively  used. 

Oil  paint  will  protect  wood  from  moisture  from  without,  and  is 
the  method  most  commonly  in  use. 

In  the  case  of  any  external  coating,  however,  which  interferes 
with  the  process  of  evaporation,  as  tar  or  paint,  the  wood  must 
be  thoroughly  dry  when  it  is  applied,  or  the  moisture  within  will 
be  unable  to  escape,  and  will  cause  decay. 

Lumber  as  well  as  the  living  tree  has  enemies  in  the  form  of 
insects  and  worms,  but  the  conditions  best  for  the  preservation 
of  the  wood,  as  referred  to  above,  are  also  the  least  favourable 
for  the  attacks  of  animal  life  and  of  fungi. 

As  soon  as  the  tree  has  been  felled  and  dies,  decomposition 
begins,  as  in  all  organic  bodies,  and  sooner  or  later  will  totally 
destroy  the  wood.  The  woody  fibre  itself  will  last  for  ages,  but 
some  of  the  substances  involved  in  the  growth  soon  decay.  The 


526          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

sap  is  liable  to  fermentation,  shown  by  a  bluish  tint,  and  decay 
sets  in.  Fungi  are  liable  to  fasten  upon  the  wood.  Worms  and 
insects  also  attack  it,  preferring  that  which  is  richest  in  sap. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  danger  of  decay  originates  chiefly  in  the 
decomposition  of  the  sap  (although  in  living  trees  past  their 
prime  decay  begins  in  the  heartwood  while  the  sapwood  is 
sound),  so  the  more  the  sap  can  be  got  rid  of  the  better.  There 
are,  however,  some  substances  found  in  various  trees,  aside  from 
those  elements  especially  required  for  their  growth,  which  render 
the  wood  more  durable,  like  tannic  acid,  which  abounds  in  oak 
and  a  number  of  trees,  particularly  in  the  bark.  There  is  no  ad- 
vantage in  getting  rid  of  the  turpentine  and  other  volatile  oils 
and  the  resinous  deposits  found  in  needle- leaved  trees,  particu- 
larly in  the  case  of  those  woods  in  which  they  abound.  Care 
should  be  taken,  however,  not  to  use  a  piece  of  pine  badly 
streaked  or  spotted  with  resinous  deposits  in  a  place  where  it  will 
be  exposed,  as  the  turpentine  or  resinous  matter  will  be  apt  to 
ooze  out  and  blister  the  paint. 

Wet  rot  is  a  decay  of  the  unseasoned  wood,  which  may  also  be 
caused  in  seasoned  wood  by  moisture  with  a  temperate  degree  of 
warmth.  It  occurs  in  wood  alternately  exposed  to  dryness  and 
moisture.  Dry  rot,  which  is  due  to  fungi,  does  not  attack  dry 
wood,  but  is  found  where  there  is  dampness  and  lack  of  free 
circulation  of  air,  as  in  warm,  damp,  and  unventilated  situations, 
like  cellars  and  the  more  confined  parts  of  ships,  and  in  time  re- 
sults in  the  entire  crumbling  away  of  the  wood.  There  are  sev- 
eral forms  of  dry  rot.  One  of  the  most  common  and  worst  of 
dry-rot  fungi  attacks  pine  and  fir.  Fungi  also  attack  oak.  Creo- 
sote is  used  as  a  preventive,  to  the  extent  to  which  it  saturates 
the  wood. 

Effects  of  Expansion  and  Contraction. — Cracks,  curling, 
warping,  winding,  or  twisting  are  due  to  nothing  but  irregular 
and  uneven  swelling  and  shrinking.  Some  kinds  of  wood  shrink 
much  in  drying,  others  but  little.  Some,  after  seasoning,  swell 


Appendix  527 

or  shrink  and  curl  and  warp  to  a  marked  degree  with  every  change 
in  temperature  and  dryness.  Others,  once  thoroughly  air- 
seasoned,  alter  much  less  in  shape  or  size  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  heart  side  of  a  board  tends  to 
become  convex  in  seasoning,  owing  to  the  shrinkage  of  the  other 
side,  and  that  if  one  part  swells  much  more  than  another  the 
wood  becomes  out  of  shape, — warped,  curled,  or  twisted.  If 
one  part  shrinks  much  faster  than  another,  cracks  usually  result 
in  the  quicker  shrinking  portion.  If  you  stick  one  end  of  a  green 
board  into  the  hot  oven  of  the  kitchen  stove,  the  heated  end  will 
crack  and  split  before  the  rest  of  the  board  has  fairly  begun  to 
dry.  We  have  seen  illustrations  of  this  in  the  seasoning  process, 
as  shown  in  Chapter  III. 

Exposure  of  one  side  of  a  seasoned  piece  to  either  dampness 
or  heat  will  thus  cause  the  piece  to  curl.  The  dampness  swells 
the  side  affected  or  the  heat  shrinks  it  so  that  the  convexity  will 
be  on  the  dampened  side,  or  the  concavity  on  the  heated  side,  as 
the  case  may  be. 

If  lumber  were  of  perfectly  uniform  texture,  hung  up  where  it 
would  be  entirely  unconfined  and  free  to  swell  or  shrink  in  all 
directions,  and  equally  exposed  all  over  the  surface  to  exactly 
the  same  degrees  and  changes  of  heat  and  cold,  dryness  and 
moisture,  it  would  simply  grow  larger  or  smaller  without  changing 
its  form  or  shape.  There  woul.d  then  be  no  curling,  warping  or 
winding.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  wood  is  not  uniform 
in  texture,  but  exceedingly  varied,  some  pieces  being  extremely 
complex  in  structure;  neither  is  it  always  free  to  expand  and 
contract  in  every  direction,  nor  equally  exposed  on  all  sides  to 
the  alternations  of  heat  and  cold,  moisture  and  dryness. 

To  come  to  the  practical  application  of  these  facts,  we  have 
seen  (in  Chapter  III.)  that  boards  for  nice  work  should  be  planed 
down  equally,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  from  both  sides;  that  the 
mere  dressing  off  of  the  surface  by  hand  will  sometimes  cause  a 
board  to  warp  badly ;  and  that  it  is  better  to  buy  stock  of  as  nearly 


528          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


the  required  thickness  as  possible,  than  to  plane  it  down  or 
split  it.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  when  a  board  is  being 
sawed  in  two  or  split  lengthwise  with  a  saw  it  sometimes  springs 
together  behind  the  saw  with  so  much  force  that  the  crack  has  to 
be  wedged  open  in  order  to  continue  sawing  (Fig.  695).  Some- 
times the  crack  opens  wider  instead  of  closing  (Fig.  696).  You 
see  from  this  that  you  cannot  always  be  sure  when  you  split  a 


FIG.  695.  FIG.  696.  FIG.  697. 

board  that  the  parts  will  retain  the  shape  they  had  in  the  original 
board.     In  working  up  large  pieces  into  smaller  ones,  unexpected 
twists  and  crooks  will  often  be  found  in  the  smaller  pieces  which 
did  not  exist  in  the  original  stock.     Sometimes  mahogany,  for  in- 
stance, will  act  in  this  way  very  markedly.     Strips  sawed  off  from 
a  board,    for  example,  will  sometimes  immediately  spring  into 
very  crooked  forms,  as  shown  in  Fig.  697  (which  would  not  be  ex- 
aggerated if  the  pieces  were  drawn  of  greater  proportionate  length). 
In  splitting  stock  flatwise,  /.  £.,  making  two  thinner  boards  out 
of   a  thick  board  or  plank,   a  similar 
result  often  follows.     The  latent  power 
set  free,  so  to  speak,  by  suddenly  ex- 
posing the  middle  of  a  board,  plank,  or 
other  timber  to  the  atmosphere  some- 
times causes  curious  developments.     It  FIG.  698. 
being  necessary  one  day  to  split  for  a 
picture  frame  a  large  mahogany  board,    i*  thick  by  2'  square, 


Appendix  529 

with  a  circular  hole  already  sawed  from  the  centre,  the  pieces 
warped  and  twisted  as  the  sawing  went  on  (Fig.  698),  until,  just 
as  they  were  nearly  separated,  the  whole  thing  "  went  off  "  with 
a  report  like  a  toy  pistol,  breaking  into  a  dozen  pieces  and  scat- 
tering them  around  the  shop. 

In  very  crooked-grained  wood  you  will  frequently  find  uneven 
and  undulating  forms  of  warping  and  twisting  that  you  do  not 
find  in  straight-grained  pieces,  but  such  wood  is  often  of  the 
most  beautiful  figure  for  indoor  work.  Where  the  grain  is 
crooked,  cropping  up  to  the  surface  as  in  Fig.  701,  the  cut-off 
ends  of  the  fibrous  structure,  so  to  speak,  are  exposed  in 
places  to  the  atmosphere.  These  open  ends,  "  end  wood,"  thus 
brought  to  the  surface  are  more  susceptible  to  moisture  and  dry- 
ness  than  the  sides  of  the  bundles  of  fibrous  tissue,  which  tends 
to  produce  unequal  swelling,  shrinking,  and  warping. 

You  will  see  if  you  look  at  the  ends  of  logs  and  stumps  that  the 
heart  is  frequently  not  in  the  centre,  in  some  cases 
taking  such  a  devious  course  throughout  the  stem 
as  to  make  the  grain  so  crooked  that  no  method  of 
sawing  will  remove  the  tendency  to  warp  or  twist, 
just  shown.  Such  trees  may  show  a  beautiful  grain. 
Even  in  straight  trees  the  pith  is  not  usually  quite 
straight,  and  is  apt  to  take  a  somewhat  zigzag 
course,  due  to  the  crooked  way  the  tree  grew  when 
young  (Fig.  699). 

Imagine,    for  an   exaggerated    illustration,   that 
you  could  see  with  X-rays  the  pith  as  crooked  as        FIG.  699. 
that  shown  in  Fig.   700.     Imagine  that  from  this 
tree  you  could  saw  out  the  board  indicated,  keeping  with  it  the 
whole  pith  or  heart  as  if  it  were  a  wire  rope  woven  in  and  out  of  the 
board,  so  that  the  appearance  would  be  somewhat  like  that  shown 
in  Fig.  701.  Bear  in  mind  that  the  annual  rings  are  layers  of  wood, 
so  to  speak,  which  may  vary  in  thickness,  growing  around  the 
heart.    You  will  see  that  these  layers,  or  rings,  as  they  dip  below 
or  rise  above  the  surface  of  the  board,  will  cause  the  grain  to  form 

34 


53°          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

various  patterns,  perhaps  somewhat  as  shown  in  Fig.  701,  which 
makes  no  claim  to  accurately  showing  the  grain  in  this  case.     In 


FIG.  700.  FIG.  701. 

fact,  all  such  variations  of  grain  in  lumber  are  due  to  the  surface 
of  the  piece  being  at  an  angle  with  the  layers. 

In  addition,  the  knots  caused  by  branches,  the  twisting  of  the 
stems  screw-fashion  (as  is  seen  in  cedar),  wounds,  and  other 
causes,  often  produce  very  crooked  and  tangled  grain,  and  the 
wood  of  many  broad-leaved  trees  is  sometimes  extremely  com- 
plicated in  texture,  especially  when  all  these  irregularities  occur 
in  the  same  piece.  It  is  the  nature  of  some  kinds  of  mahogany, 
from  whatever  cause,  to  have  the  fibres  strangely  interlaced  or 
running  in  very  different  directions  in  layers  which  are  quite 
near  each  other. 

The  warping,  twisting,  and  cracking  is  obviated  in  many  cases 
where  it  is  objectionable  (as  in  the  wooden  frames  of  machines, 
the  tops  of  benches)  by  building  up  with  a  number  of  smaller 
pieces,  of  which  you  will  often  see  illustrations.  To  do  this  to 
the  best  advantage,  the  pieces  should  be  selected  and  put  together 
so  that,  though  the  grain  will  run  in  the  same  direction  lengthways, 
the  annual  rings  at  the  ends  will  not  run  together  as  in  a  whole 
beam,  but  will  be  reversed  or  arranged  in  various  combinations, 
so  that  the  tendencies  of  the  different  parts  to  warp  or  twist  will 
counteract  each  other.  Instead  of  a  single  board,  which  would 
naturally  become  warped  in  one  large  curve,  a  number  of  strips 
can  be  glued  up  with  the  grain  of  the  strips  arranged  in  alternate 


Appendix 


FIG.  702. 


for 


fashion  (Fig.  559),  so  that  in  place  of  one  large  curve  the  warp- 
ing will  merely  result  in  a  slightly  wavy  line. 

Where  but  one  side  of  a  board  is  seen  or  used  and  where  the 
full  strength  is  not  needed,  warping  and  twisting  can  be  largely 
prevented  by  lengthways  saw-cuts  on  the  back  or  under  surface,  as 
in  a  drawing-board,  the  crossways  strength  required  being  secured 
by  the  cleats.  Doors  and  most  forms  of  panelled  work  also  illus- 
trate these  matters  of  swelling  and  shrinking  (see  Doors  and  Panels}. 
Shakes. — Heart-shakes  are  cracks  radiating  from  the  centre 
in  the  line  of  the  medullary  rays,  widest  at  the  pith 
and  narrowing  toward  the  outside,  and  supposed  to 
be  chiefly  caused  by  the  shrinkage  of  the  older 
wood  due  to  the  beginning  of  decay  while  the  tree 
is  standing  (Fig.  702).  Slight  heart-shakes  are 
common,  but  if  large  and  numerous  or  twisting  in 
the  length  of  the  log,  they  injure  the  timber  seriously 
cutting  up. 

Star-shakes  are  also  radiating  cracks,  but,  unlike  the  heart- 
shakes, the  cracks  are  widest  at  the  outside,  nar- 
rowing toward  the  centre  (Fig.  703),  and  are 
often  caused  by  the  shrinkage  of  the  outer  part  due 
to  the  outside  of  the  tree  drying  faster  than  the 
inside,  as  it  naturally  does  from  being  more  ex- 
posed after  being  felled;  but  they  are  sometimes 
owing  to  the  beginning  of  decay  and  other  causes. 

Cup-shakes  are  cracks  between  some  of  the  annual  rings, 
separating  the  layers  more  or  less  (Fig.  704), 
sometimes  reaching  entirely  around,  separating 
the  centre  from  the  outer  portion,  and  are  sup- 
posed to  be  caused  by  the  swaying  of  the  tree  in 
the  wind  (hence  sometimes  known  as  wind- 
shakes],  or  to  some  shock  or  extreme  changes 
of  temperature,  or  other  causes. 

Combinations  of    the  various    shakes   may   be  found  in  the 
same  log. 


FIG.  703. 


FIG.  704. 


532          Wood-Working  for  Beginners 

A    Few   Suggestions    about    Working  -  Drawings.  — 

Drawing  is  far  too  extensive  a  subject  to  be  even  briefly  treated 
in  a  manual  on  wood-working,  but  a  few  general  remarks  on  mat- 
ters connected  with  working-drawings  may  be  of  help  to  some. 

While  an  ordinary  picture  gives  a  correct  idea  of  how  an  object 
looks,  we  cannot  take  accurate  measurements  from  it.  When  we 
need  dimensions,  as  in  practical  work,  we  must  have  some  draw- 
ings which  will  show  us  at  once  the  exact  shapes,  sizes,  and  po- 
sitions of  the  various  parts.  In  addition  to  the  picture  to  give 
us  the  general  idea,  we  have  for  working  purposes  what  are  called 
elevations,  plans,  sections,  etc. 

In  such  a  case  as  that  of  the  little  house  shown  on  page  242, 
the  picture  (Fig.  363)  shows  us  the  appearance  of  the  building, 
but  for  purposes  of  construction,  working-drawings  should  also 
be  made.  The  view  of  what  you  would  see  if  you  stood  directly 
in  front  of  this  house,  with  only  the  front  visible,  is  shown  in  Fig. 
364,  and  is  called  the  front  elevation.  Stand  opposite  either  side 
or  end,  and  the  view  seen  is  represented  in  Fig.  364  as  the  side 
elevation.  In  the  same  manner  the  rear  elevation  is  given.  Next 
imagine  yourself  in  the  air  directly  above  the  house.  This  view 
is  called  the  plan.1  In  this  case,  as  the  view  of  the  interior  is 
desired,  the  view  is  shown  as  if  the  roof  were  removed.  If  the 
sides  or  ends  are  not  alike,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  two  side  or 
end  views  may  be  needed.  In  the  case  illustrated,  inside  eleva- 
tions are  also  given,  to  show  the  construction. 

1  This  definition  of  elevations  and  plan  as  being  representations  of  what 
you  would  see  if  you  stood  opposite  the  sides  or  above  the  top  of  the  object,  is 
merely  a  rough  explanation  of  the  general  meaning  of  the  terms.  As  a  matter 
of  scientific  accuracy  the  elevation  is,  strictly  speaking,  not  the  way  the  side 
would  appear  if  you  looked  at  it  from  one  position,  but  the  way  it  would  ap- 
pear if  you  could  look  at  it  from  directly  opposite  every  point  of  it — as  if  you 
could  have  an  infinite  number  of  eyes,  one  being  opposite  every  point  of  the 
object.  The  elevation  shows  the  front  or  side  or  end  as  it  really  is,  not  as  it 
looks,  either  in  the  form  of  an  exact  copy  if  the  object  is  small,  or  of  a  small 
copy  made  in  the  same  proportion  if  the  object  is  too  large  to  be  represented 
full  size. 


Appendix  533 

Elevations,  whether  one  or  several,  must  always  be  taken  at 
right  angles  to  the  plan.  Although  commonly,  in  simple  work, 
confined  to  representations  of  each  side  or  end,  they  can  be 
taken  from  any  point  of  view  that  may  be  at  right  angles  to  the 
plan.  They  may  be  taken  from  the  corners  or  at  any  angles  that 
may  best  show  any  complicated  details  of  the  object.  If  the 
object  is  quite  simple,  one  elevation  and  the  plan,  or  two  eleva- 
tions without  the  plan,  may  be  quite  sufficient,  as  the  elevation  or 
plan  omitted  can  in  such  cases  be  understood  at  once. 

Always  make  your  drawings  full-sized  when  the  object  to  be 
made  is  not  too  large.  You  are  much  less  likely  to  make  mis- 
takes in  taking  your  dimensions  and  measurements  from  a  draw- 
ing the  actual  size  of  the  object  than  where  you  have  to  take  them 
from  a  smaller  drawing,  and  you  also  can  get  a  better  idea  from 
a  full-sized  drawing  just  how  the  object  will  look.  It  is  a  safe- 
guard, with  a  drawing  which  is  symmetrical,  to  lay  it  out  from  a 
centre  line,  measuring  to  the  right  and  left. 

If  you  make  a  drawing  of  which  each  line  is  one  half  the  length 
of  the  same  line  in  the  real  object,  it  is  called  a  "  half-size  " 
drawing,  and  is  said  to  be  drawn  on  a  scale  of  6"  to  the  foot.  If 
"  one  fourth  size,"  the  scale  is  3"  to  the  foot.  The  scale  is  often 
expressed  as  an  equation,  viz.:  2  in.  =  i  ft.,  or  y=i'. 

If  the  drawing  is  not  made  with  accuracy,  it  is  necessary  to 
put  the  dimensions  upon  it,  and  this  is  often  done  for  convenience 
and  quickness  of  execution  in  the  case  of  drawings  which  are 
accurate. 

Details  inside  of  an  object,  that  is,  such  parts  as  cannot  be 
seen  or  properly  shown  in  the  elevations  or  plan,  are  often  shown 
by  dotted  lines,  as  in  Fig.  597.  Sometimes  dotted  lines  are  used 
in  the  same  way  to  show  the  back  of  an  object,  to  save  making 
extra  drawings.  Too  many  dotted  lines,  however,  are  confusing, 
so  if  the  parts  that  do  not  show  on  the  surface  are  not  quite  simple 
and  cannot  be  clearly  shown  by  dotted  lines  on  the  plan  and 
elevations,  it  is  usual  to  make  another  kind  of  drawing  especially 
to  show  such  details.  This  is  called  a  "  section  "  (Lat.,  scctio, 


534         Wood- Working  for  Beginners 

from  secare,  to  cut),  and  represents  what  would  be  shown  if  the 
object  were  cut  apart  or  sawed  through  at  the  place  where  the 
view  of  the  details  is  wanted.  The  surface  supposed  to  be  cut  is 
usually  indicated  by  parallel  lines  crossing  the  surface,  inde- 
pendent parts,  as  those  of  different  pieces,  frequently  being 
shown  by  changing  the  direction  of  the  parallel  lines,  as  in  Fig. 

5°4- 

When  both  sides  of  an  object  are  alike,  labour  and  space  are 
often  saved  by  making  a  drawing  of  one  side  or  one  half  only, 
from  a  centre  line.  The  same  way  is  sometimes  adopted  in 
making  sections,  and  an  elevation  and  section  can  sometimes  be 
combined  in  this  way  in  one  drawing. 

As  soon  as  you  become  used  to  plans  and  elevations,  you  can 
by  combining  the  plan  and  elevations  in  your  mind  quickly  im- 
agine the  form  of  the  object  represented,  and  often,  unless  it  is 
complicated,  get  fully  as  good  a  conception  of  it  as  from  a 
picture,  and  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  its  proportions  and 
details,  so  that  in  many  cases  there  is  no  need  of  having  a  picture 
at  all  in  order  to  construct  the  object.  It  is  often  a  conven- 
ience to  have  a  picture,  however,  and  frequently  an  assistance  in 
forming  a  correct  idea  of  something  you  have  never  seen.  Where 
the  appearance  of  the  object  is  of  consequence,  as  in  the  case  of 
a  house  or  bookcase,  for  instance,  the  picture  is  of  the  first  con- 
sequence, for  you  must  have  a  correct  representation  of  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the  object  before  you  begin  to  make  the 
working-drawings.  You  will  soon  find  that  merely  having  an 
idea  in  your  mind  is  not  always  sufficient  from  which  to  make 
working-drawings,  although  the  first  step  in  the  process.  You 
will  often  find  that  when  the  idea  in  your  mind  is  put  into  the 
form  of  a  picture,  it  does  not  look  at  all  as  you  thought  it  would, 
and  that  if  you  had  started  at  once  on  the  working-drawings 
without  first  making  a  sketch  or  picture,  the  result  would  have 
been  unsatisfactory  and  sometimes  entirely  impracticable. 

Even  making  a  sketch  or  picture  that  just  expresses  your  idea 
will  not  always  result  in  the  completed  object  being  just  what 


Appendix  535 

you  wish.  Strange  though  it  may  seem,  it  is  a  fact,  practically, 
that  the  completed  object  often  looks  quite  different  from  what 
the  sketch  leads  you  to  expect.  That  result,  however,  is  some- 
thing which  cannot  be  helped,  so  you  need  not  give  it  any  atten- 
tion, only  do  not  be  surprised  if  once  in  a  while  you  find  that 
what  you  have  made  is  not  just  what  you  thought  it  would  be. 
First  make  the  best  design  you  can,  then  accurate  working- 
drawings,  then  work  carefully  by  the  drawings,  and  if  the  result 
is  not  always  exactly  what  you  expected,  you  can  console  your- 
self with  the  thought  that  your  experience  is  only  that  of  archi- 
tects, designers,  carpenters,  and  workmen  in  all  lines,  and  that 
no  one  can  foresee  all  the  conditions  by  which  a  piece  of  projected 
work  will  be  affected. 

Oblique  or  parallel  projections  are  often  used,  from  which 
measurements  can  be  made.  Such  projections  are  not  true 
representations  of  the  objects  as  they  appear  to  the  eye,  but  they 
are  often  used  because  readily  understood  and  easily  drawn. 
They  often  answer  every  purpose  from  a  practical  point  of  view. 
Figs.  120  and  344  are  examples. 

Another  way  of  representing  objects  for  practical  purposes  is 
that  shown  in  Figs.  121  and  407,  and  known  as  "isometric  '  pro- 
jection" or  "Isometric  perspective."  This  method  is  incorrect  so 
far  as  giving  an  accurate  picture  is  concerned,  for  the  object  is 
always  represented  as  being  too  large  in  the  farther  parts,  be- 
cause the  inclined  lines  are  drawn  parallel  instead  of  converging; 
but  it  is  often  very  useful  from  a  practical  point  of  view,  because 
by  it  all  that  is  required  can  frequently  be  expressed  in  one 
drawing. 

Isometric  perspective  will  not  readily  give  the  correct  dimen- 
sions except  in  the  lines  which  are  vertical  or  which  slant  either 
way  at  an  angle  of  30°  with  the  horizontal, — /.  e.,  you  cannot 
take  the  other  dimensions  right  off  with  a  rule  as  from  a  plan, 
and  therefore,  so  far  as  obtaining  correct  dimensions  is  concerned, 
it  is  practically  not  useful  for  other  than  rectangular  objects;  but 
1  Gr.,  equal  measure. 


536          Wood- Working  for  Beginners 


FIG.  705. 


so  far  as  merely  showing  the  general  shape  or  conveying  the  idea 
of  the  form  it  can  often  be  advantageously  used  in  representing 
many  objects  containing  curved  lines.  Isometric  projection  has 
the  advantage  of  being  easy  of  execution,  and  of  being  so  pictorial 
that  it  is  almost  always  easy  to  see  what  is  meant. 

A  First-Class  Bench.— The  construction  of  the  bench 
shown  on  page  101  is  not  difficult  to  understand,  but  consider- 
able skill  is  required  to  make  a 
really  good  one.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  vise  is  shown  in  Fig. 
705,  which  is  an  inverted  view 
(as  if  looking  up  from  under- 
neath). The  vise  is  kept  par- 
allel by  the  stout  bars  of  hard 
wood,  parallel  to  the  screw, 
which  slide  through  mortises  cut 
in  the  front  of  the  bench-top, 

and  are  further  guided  by  the  cleats  screwed  to  the  under  side  of 
the  top,  where  it  is  thinner  than  at  the  front  edge.  In  case  of 
using  such  a  vise  where  the  bench-top  is  not  so  thick  in  front, 
the  thickness  can  easily  be  made  sufficient  by  screwing  a  stout 
cleat  on  the  under  side  where  the  vise  comes.  In  this  cleat  can 
be  cut  the  mortises  for  the  slide-bars.  The  end- vise  or  "  tail- 
screw  "  shown  in  Fig.  143  involves  rather  more  work,  but  slides 
upon  a  similar  principle.  Perhaps  the  best  way  for  the  amateur 
is  to  make  the  end-vise  in  the  same  way  as  the  main  vise,  adding 
the  movable  stop. 

There  is  no  better  way  to  make  the  front  of  this  bench-top  than 
to  build  it  up  of  narrow  boards  on  edge,  planed  true,  and  thor- 
oughly glued  and  bolted  together.  The  planing  and  truing  can 
best  be  done  by  machine,  however.  If  well  put  together,  such 
a  bench-top  will  defy  changes  of  weather  and  will  stand  a  great 
deal  of  hard  usage.  The  back  part  of  the  top  can  be  thinner, 
but  can  very  well  be  built  up  if  desired.  An  excellent  way  to 


Appendix  537 

fasten  the  frame  of  such  a  bench  together  is  with  bolts,  by  which 
the  parts  can  be  drawn  to  a  firm  bearing. 

It  is  impossible  to  make  such  a  bench  too  rigid.  If  so  stiffly 
framed  that  it  cannot  change  its  shape,  and  if  the  top  is  care- 
fully trued,  you  will  have  something  which  will  be  a  great  help 
to  good  work. 


INDEX 


Adze,  Indian,   II 
—  Japanese,  15 
Air-chambers,  318,  319  (footnote) 

—  -dried  stock,  164.    See  Seasoning. 

—  -drying,  36-40,  522-524 

—  pure,  277-279 

—  -tanks,  318,  319  (footnote) 
Alkanet  root,  498 

Ammonia  (for  staining),  495,  497 
Angle  -  blocks.       See    Corner  -  blocks, 

365 

Angles,  determining,  with  bevel,  350 

Angular  bit-brace,  352 

Animals,  houses  for,  126-140 

Annual  rings,  29 

Anvil,  77,  344 

Apparatus,  athletic  and  gymnastic. 
See  Gymnastic  Apparatus  and  Im- 
plements for  Outdoor  Sports. 

Apple  (wood),  512 

Apron,  56 

Arbours,  291-293 

Arcs,  describing  circular,  364,  365 

Arkansas  stone,  434 

Ash,  512 

—  sapwood,  42,  510 
Auger-bit,  352 
Awl,  Japanese,  15 
Awls,  344,  345 
Axe,  345 

Backbone,  ice-boat,  334 

Back-saw,  469 

Backs  for  case  work,  194 

Balcony,  295,  297 

Ball  and  block,  219 

Balloon  frame,  280 

Bar,  horizontal,  166-168,  173 

Bars,  parallel,  164-166 

Bassoolah,  n,  12 

Basswood,  513 


Bath-house,  293,  294 
Batteau,  299-314 
Battening,  282 
Bayberry  tallow,  378 
Baywood.     See  Mahogany. 
Beading,  198,  345,  346 

planes,  451 

Bead-scraper,  345,  346 
Beams.      See    Collar  -  beams,  Floor- 
beams,  etc. 
Beech,  512 
Bench,  filing-,  75-77 

—  finishing-,  77 
— -hook,  86-88 

—  -stop,  71-75 

—  -top,  62,  63,  74,  536 

—  -vise,  65-71,  74,  101,  536 

—  work-,  57-65,  101,  536,  537 
Bending  wood,  40,  346-349 
Bevel,  349,  350 

Bevelling,  350,  351,  357 

—  edges  of  sides  of  boat,  305 
Big  trees,  520 

Birch,  512,  513 

—  model  (canoe),  325,  326 
Bird-houses.     See  Houses  for     Ani- 
mals. 

Bird's-eye  maple,  517 
Bit-brace,  351,  352 

—  angular,  352 

—  maker,  22 

—  use  of,  353-356  (Boring) 

—  where  to  keep,  83 
Bits,  352,  353 

—  arrangement,  83 

—  maker,  22 
Bit-stock.     See  Bit-brace. 
Black  birch,  512,  513 

—  bone-,  498 

—  cherry,  514 

—  ivory-,  498 


539 


540 


Index 


Black,  lamp-,  498 

—  walnut,  513 
Blind  dovetailing,  373 

—  nailing,  432 
Block-form,  176,  240 

—  -plane,  449 

Board,  sprung,  for  pressure,  362 

measure,  47,  48 

Boarding,  outside,  269 
Boards,  definition  of,  46 

—  matched-,  46,  47 

—  or  planks,  laying  exposed,  353 

—  splitting,  527-529 
Boat-building,  298-343 

—  house-,  339-343 
houses,  294-297 

—  ice-,  332-339 

Boats,  toy,  hulls  of,  227-237 

—  (windmill),  114,  115 
Bob-sled,  156-163 

Body  plan,  229,  230  (footnote) 
Boiled  oil,  437  (Painting) 
Bone-black,  498 
Bookcase  and  lounge,  211 

—  dwarf,  196 

—  low,  196 

—  pinned  ("  knock-down"),  195 

—  wall,  or  hanging,  186,  187 

—  with  cupboard,  197 

—  with  desk,  198-200 
Bookcases,  193-200 
Book-rack,  183,  184 

shelf,  hanging,  185 

Booths,  play,  241-249 
Boring,  353-35° 

—  Japanese,  15 
Bow-gun,  154 

saw,  469,  470 

Boxes,  219,  227 
Box-making,  219-227 
Boxwood,  513 

Brace  for  bits.     See  Bit-brace. 

joint,  411 

Braced  frame,  280 

Braces,  corner,  for  house  frames,  266 

Brad-awl,  344,  345 

—  holes  made  by,  430 
Brake  for  sleds,  160-163 
British  oak,  518 
Broad-leaved  trees,  511 
Bruises  and  cuts,  86 


Bruises  in  wood,  to  take  out,  356 
Brushes,  356 

—  care  of,  440 

Buck.     See  Vaulting-horse. 
"Built-up"  stock,  409,  410,  530,  531 
Bull-nosed-plane,  450 
Burnisher  for  scraper,  487 
Butternut,  513 
Butt-joint,  408 
Button  wood.     See  Sycamore. 
Buying    lumber,    suggestions    about, 
36-45.     See  also  Seasoning. 

—  tools,  suggestions  about,  15-22 

Cabinet-clamps.     See  Clamps. 

—  corner-,  190,  191 

—  for  guns,   fishing-rods,   etc.,    215, 
216 

—  for  tools  and  supplies,  96-101 

—  medicine,  191,  193 

—  music,  200,  201 

—  wall,  or  hanging,  186,  189,  190 

work.     See  Furniture. 

Cabins,  241-259 

Cages  for  animals,  126-140 

Calcined  plaster,  403 

Calipers,  356 

Camping-houses.    See  House-building 

for  Beginners. 
Canoe,  "birch"  model,  325,  326 

—  canvas-covered,  317-328 

—  flat-bottomed,  311-317 

—  "         "        (canvas-covered),  313, 

314 

Canvas-covered  canoe  (flat-bottomed), 

313,  314 

—  canoes,  317-328 

Canvas,  covering  canoe  with,  322,  323 

—  deck,  317 

—  painting,  323 

Cap  (plane-iron),  451,  452 
Care  of  stock,  44 

—  of  tools,  22,  23 
Carlins,  325,  329 
Carpentry,  Japanese,  12-15 
Carving-tools,  20,  357 

—  makers  of,  22 

Case,  centreboard,  330,  331 

—  music,  200,  201 
Casing  for  doors,  269 

—  for  doors  and  windows,  273 


Index 


Catalpa,   522 
Caulking,  302,  303,  330 
Cedar,  513,  514 
Centre-bit,  352 

—  -board,  330,  331 

—  -board  trunk,  330, 331 

table,  206,  207 

Chain,  wooden,  218,  219 
Chair,  outdoor,  210 

—  -table,  212-214 
Chalk,  416 

—  -line,  416 

Chamfering,  350,  351,  357 
Charring  wood,  263,  264,  525 
Checking  of  lumber,  31,  42,  526 
Cherry,  514 

Chestnut,  514 
Chests,  219-227 
Chimney.     See  Smoke-pipe. 
Chip  (of  plane),  453 
Chisels,  357-359 

—  arrangement  of,  83 

—  makers  of,  22 

—  sharpening.     See  Sharpening. 

—  use  of,   358,    359,    421-423,   442- 

444 
Chopping-block,  86 

—  wood.     See  Splitting   Wood. 
Circles    and    arcs,    describing,    364, 

.365 

Circular-plane,  450 
Clamping,  71,359-363  (Clamps),  395, 

461 
Clamps,  71,  359-363,   395,  4oi-     See 

also  Handscrews. 
Clapboarding,  273,  274 
Clapboards,  48,  274 
Cleaner  for  furniture,  etc.,  386 
Cleating,  53,  363,  364 
Cleats.     See  Cleating. 

—  for  rowlocks,  301,  302,  306 
Clinching  nails,  431 
Club-house,  296,  297 
Coal-tar,  525 

Coaming,  316,  320,  325,  331 

Collar-beams,  287 

Collection  of  specimens  of  wood,  44, 

507,  508 

Colour  of  lumber,  40 
"  Combination  "    articles   (furniture), 

198-200,  211-214 


"  Combination  "  planes,  451 
Compartments  (pigeon-holes),  200 

—  water-tight,  318,  319  (footnote) 
Compasses,  364,  365.    See  also  Scrib- 
ing. 

Compass-plane.     See  Circular-plane. 

saw,  469,  470 

Concealed  nailing.     See   Blind,   and 

Sliver -nailing,  432 
Conifers,  511 
Coop,  129 

Cord,  twisted,  for  pressure,  362 
Corner-blocks,  365 

—  book-shelves  and  seat,  212 

braces  for  house  frame,  266 

chisel,  358 

posts,  265,  266 

seat  and  shelves,  212 

shelves  or  cabinets,  190,  191 

"  Cottage  Row,"  271-276 
Cottages,  simple  summer,  271-290 
Cotton  wood,  514 
Couch  with  bookcase,  etc.,  211 
Countersink,  365,  478 
Cracking  of  lumber,  31,  42,  526 
Cracks  and  holes,   to  fill,   384,   403, 
404 

—  flashing,  273 
Creosote,  525 

stains,  270,  525 

Cricket,  or  footstool,  210 
Crooked  grain,  529,  530 
Crossbow,  154 
Cross-cutting-saw,  466,  467 

—  -grained  stock,  40,  41,  529,  530 
Cupboard.     See  Cabinet. 
Cup-shakes,  531 

Curling  of  lumber,  32-34,  409,  410, 

502,  526-531 
Curves,  sawing,  180 

—  trimming  or  paring,  443 
Cut-nails,  433 

—  best  for  shingling,  270 
Cuts  and  bruises,  86 
Cutting  the  log,  3i~35 

—  the  tree.     See  Felling. 
Cutting-edges,     25-28.      See     also 

Sharpening. 

pliers,  366 

Cutwater,  309-311 
Cypress,  514,  515 


542 


Index 


Daggers,  wooden,  106,  107 

Deal,  519,  521 

Decay  and  preservation,  41,  524-526 

Deck,  329 

—  canvas,  317 

—  for  toy  boats,  236 

—  timbers,  325,  329 
Deliquescent  stem,  508 
Designing,    175-177,     239-241,    276, 

534,  535 
Desk  and  bookcase,  198-200 

—  -rack,  184,  185 
Dimension  stock,  45 
Dividers.     See  Compasses. 
Dog-fish  skin,  381 
Dog-houses,  133-136 
Dogwood,  522 

Dolls'  house,  121-125 
Door,  247 

—  and  window  frames,  space  for,  266 
casings,  269,  272 

Doors  and  panels,  366-372 

—  and  windows,  sizes  of,  276 

—  sliding,  132,  133 
Double-bladed  paddle,  328 

—  -ironed  planes,  451 

—  -runner,  156-163 
Dovetailing,  372,  373 
Dowelling,  374-376 
Dowel-plate,  376 
Dowels,  374 
Dragon's  blood,  498 
Drainage,  278,  279 
Drawboring,  426 

Drawer,  or  lap,  dovetailing,  373 
Drawers,  101,  376-378 
Drawing  nails,  504,   505 
Drawings,  working,  49,  50,   532-536 
Draw-knife  or  draw-shave,  378,  379 

—  use  of,  442-444 
Draw-stroke,    26-28,    351,    378,  379, 

443,  444,  456 
Drill,  primitive,   10 

—  -stock,  379 
Drills,  379 

Driving  nails.     See  Nailing. 
Dry  rot,  526 

—  situation,  277 
Dryer,  438  (Painting) 

Drying   lumber,    methods  of,  36-40, 
523,  524 


Duck's-bill-bit,  353 
Dwari  bookcase,  196 

Ebony,  48,  515 

Edges,    cutting,     25-28.      See    also 

Sharpening. 
Elasticity,  40,  511 
—  loss  of,  37,  524 
Elder,  522 
Elevations,  532-534 
Elm,  515 

—  sapwood,  42,  510 
End-grain,  529 

—  planing,  457 

Essentials  to  successful  work,  102 
Estimating,  54,  55 
Excurrent  trunk,  508 
Expansion  and    contraction,     30-33, 
50-53,  225,  526-531 

—  bit,  352 

Face  (of  plane),  445 

—  (of  stock),  54 

Facing  edges  of  case  work,  198 

Farm  school,  271 

Felling  and  seasoning,  522-524.     See 

also  Seasoning. 

Figured  stock.    See  Grain  of  Wood. 
File-card,  381 
Files,  379-381 

—  maker  of,  22 
Filing,  379-381 
— -bench,  75-77 

—  saw-,  485-487  (Sharpening) 
Filler,  wood,  385  (Finishing) 
Finishing,  182,  183,  381-386 
— -bench,  77 

Fin-keel  type,  229-236 
Fir.     See  Pine  and  Spruce. 
Firmer-chisel,  357,  359 
Fishing-lodges.     See    House-building 

for  Beginners. 
Fish-plates,  411 
Flashing,  257,  258,  272,  273 
Flatboat,  299-308 
Flat-bottomed  boats,  299-317 
Floor-beams,  254,  255,  266,  267,  287, 

288,  296 
Flooring  for  canoe,  323 

—  rift-,  36 


Index 


543 


Floors,  254,  255,  266-268,  287,  288, 

296 

Flower-pot  stands,  201,  202,  207 
Footstool  or  cricket,  210 
Fore-plane,  447,  448 
Forests,  preservation  of,  509 
Forms  for  bending.     See  Moulds. 
Foundation,  259,  260,  262-264,  279 
Frame  for  buildings,   249,    250,  254, 
265-269,    272,  279,  280,  286,  287, 
296.     See  also  Houses  for  Animals. 

—  balloon,  280 

—  braced  and  mortised,  280 

—  for  boat.     See  Moulds  and  Boat- 
building for  Beginners. 

Frames,  door  and  window,  sizes  of, 
276  ;  spaces  for,  266 

—  picture-,  216,  217 
Framing-chisels,  358 

Framing    (doors    and    panels).      See 
Doors  and  Panels. 

—  (house).  See  Frame  for  Buildings. 
square,  495 

French  polishing,  385,  386 

Frogs,  turtles,  lizards,  etc.,  tank  for, 

139,  UO 

Front  elevation,  532 

Fungi,    41,  43,  and  Decay  and  Pre- 
servation, 524-526 

Furniture,  175-217 

—  repairing,  460-462 

Gain,  288  (Fig.  399) 
Gauge,  386-390 

—  for  bevels  and  chamfers,  351 

—  makers,  22 
Gauging.     See  Gauge. 
Georgia  pine,  520 
Giant  swing,  172,  173 
Gimlet,  390 

—  -bit,  353 

Glass  for  scraper,  473,  474 

—  setting,  391 
Glazing,  391 
Glue.     See  Gluing. 
Glued-joints,  360  (footnote),   392,  393 

(footnote).  See  also  Gluing,  Clamps, 
Handscrews,  and  Repairing  Furni- 
ture. 

—  clamping,  359-363 

—  rubbing,  365  (Corner-blocks) 


Glue-pot,  396 

Gluing,  391-396.  See  also  Clamps, 
Handscrews,  and  Repairing  Furni- 
ture. 

—  old  work.     See  Repairing  Furni- 
ture. 

Glycerine,  434 
Gouge,  396-398 

—  -bit,  353 

Gouges,  arrangement  of,  83 

—  makers  of,  22 

Grain  of  wood,  30,  33-36,  40 

—  crooked  or  cross-grained,  35,  36, 
40,  529,  530 

Grinding.     See  Sharpening. 
Grindstone,  398 

—  use  of,  480-482 
Grooving,  185,  187,  398 
Gum  (wood),  522 
Gun-cabinet,  etc.,  215,  216 

Guns  and  pistols  (wooden),  152-154 
Gunwale  strip,  306,  317,  320 
Gymnastic  apparatus,  163-174 

Half-breadth  plan,  229,  230 
Half-round  file,  380 
Halving  (halved-joints),  399,  400 
Hammer,  400 

—  use  of.   See  Nailing,  428-430,  and 
also  504,  505 

Handles,  etc.,  oiling,  23 
Handscrews,  400-402 

—  use  of,  71,  400-402,  461 
Hanging  bookcase,  186,  187 

—  book-shelf,  185 

"  Happy  Jack,"  112-114 
Hard  pine,  519,  520 

—  wood,  45 
Hatchet,  402 

—  use  of,  441,  442 
Headledges,  330,  331 
Heart,  crooked,  529,  530 

—  shakes,  531 

—  wood,  29,  42,43,  510 
Hemlock,  515 

Hen-houses.  See  Houses  for  Ani- 
mals and  House-building  for  Be- 
ginners. 

Hickory,  515 

—  sapwood,  510 
Hinges,  247,  402,  403 


544 


Index 


Hip-rafters,  284 

Hip-roof,  284-286 

Holes  and  cracks,  to  fill,  384,  403,  404 

Hollow  and  round  planes,  451 

Holly,  516 

Horizontal  bar,  166-168,  173 

Hornbeam,  522 

Horse,  vaulting-,   170-172 

Horses,  or  trestles,  88-90 

House,  bath-,  293,  294 

boats,  339-343 

building   for  beginners,    238-297 

—  designing,  239-241 

—  situation,  239.     See  also  Houses. 
Housed  joint,  424  and  Fig.  557 
Houses,  boat-,  294-297 

—  club-,  296,  297 

—  dolls',  121-125 

—  for  animals,  126—140 

—  play-,  241-259 

—  portable,  247,  248 

—  summer-,  291-293.  See  also  House. 
Housing  (housed  joint),  424  and  Fig. 

557 
Hunting-lodges.    See  House-building 

for  Beginners. 
Hutch,  rabbit,  132,   133 

Ice-boat,  small,  332-339 
Indian  turning,  10,  n 
Inside  calipers,  356 
Iron  (of  plane),  445 

—  painting,  438 
Ironwood,  522 

Isometric  projection   or   perspective, 

535 
Ivory  black,  498 

Jack-knife.     SeeA"w/<?,  411,  412 

plane,  446,  447 

rafter,  284 

Japan,  438  (Painting) 

—  varnish,  438 

Japanese  carpenter's  vise,  13 

—  carpentry,  12-15 

—  lacquer,  383  (footnote) 

—  tools,  14,  15 
Jointer,  448 

Jointing,    360     (footnote),     404-408, 

491  (Shooting-board) 
Joints,  221,  222 


Joints  and  splices,  408-411 

—  for   gluing,    360,    392,    393   (foot- 
note).    See  Glued-joints. 

—  housed,  424  and  Fig.  557 

—  in  exposed   work,    painting,    439, 
440 

—  mitred.     See  Mitring. 

—  relished,  425 
Joists,  definition,  47 

Keel,  316,  323,  324,  327 

—  built  up,  237 

—  (skag),  307 
Keelson,  320 
Kennel,  133-136 

Kerfing.     See  Bending  IVood,  346 

Keyhole-saw,  470 

Kiln-drying,  37-40.     See  Seasoning. 

King-bolt,  158 

Knees,  314 

Knife,  411,  412 

—  makers,  22 

—  putty,  459 

—  sharpening,  480,  484 

—  use  of,  442-444 
Knives,  wooden,  106,  107 

"  Knock-down  "  construction,  195 

Lacquer,  Japanese,  383  (footnote) 

Ladders  (gymnastic),  173 

Lampblack,  498 

Lancewood,  516 

Lap  or  drawer  dovetailing,  373 

Lard  oil,  434 

Lathe,  primitive  Indian,  10,  II 

Laths,  48 

Lattice-work,  282,  291,  292 

Laying  out  the  work,  50-54 

Lead  (of  plane-iron),  452 

—  over   door-   and   window -casings, 
272,  273 

—  red,  438  (Painting] 

—  white.     See  Painting. 
Lean-to,  241-250 

—  addition,  281,  282 

—  roof,  frame  for,  250 
Ledger-board,  296 
Leg-of-mutton  sail,  332 
Leopard  wood,  48 
Level,  96,  412 

—  makers,  22 


Index 


545 


Levelling  tables,  horses,  chairs,  etc., 
479,  480,  504 

Lighthouse,  120 

Lignum-vitse,  516 

Lime-water,  497,  498 

Linden.     See  Bass-wood. 

Linseed  oil.  See  Finishing,  Paint- 
ing (437),  and  Staining. 

Lizards,  frogs,  turtles,  etc.,  tank  for, 

.139,  HO 
Live  oak,  518 

Load  water-line,  230  (footnote) 
Location  of  house,  277-279 
Locks,  412,  413 
Locust,  516 

Log,  cutting  the,  31-35 
Long  jointer,  448 
Lounge  with  bookcase,  etc.,  211 
Lumber,  characteristics.    See  Chapter 

III.  (  Wood),  and  510-522 

—  charring,  263,  264,  525 

—  checking  and  cracking,  31,  42,  526 

—  colour  of,  40 

—  cross-grained,  40,  41,  529,  530 

—  curling    and    warping,    32-34,   41, 
409,  502,  526-531 

—  definition,  45 

—  dressed,  45,  46 

—  rift,  35,  36 

—  sawing,   31-35.     See  also  Expan- 
sion and  Contraction. 

—  seasoning,    36-40,    42,    164,     177, 
178,  522-524 

—  selection  of,  33-45 

—  stacking,  39 

—  swelling    and    shrinking,    30-35, 
50-53,  225,  526-531 

—  undressed,  45 

—  wany,  40 

—  warped,  41.     See  Warping, 

—  winding,  41.     See  Winding, 

M,  47 

Mahogany,  516 

—  cracks  in,  42 
Mallet,  414 
Maple,  517 
Marking,  414-416 

awl.     See  Awl  and  Marking. 

—  distances.     See  Rule,  465 
gauge.     See  Gauge. 

35 


Mason's  square,  261 
Masts,  331 
Matched-boards,  46,  47 

—  striking,  245 
Matching-planes,  21,  47,  451 
Maxims,  102 

Measurements.     See   Rule,  and   also 
47, 48,  50, 59, 167  (footnote),  244, 261 
Measuring.     See  Measurements. 
Measuring-rod,  53 
Medicine-cabinet,  191,  193 
Medullary  rays,  29,  30 
Middle-boards,  34,  35,  523 
Mirror-plates,  416 
Mirrors,  setting,  391 
Mitre.     See  Mitring. 
board,  92,  93 

—  -box,  90-92 

—  dovetailing,  373 

—  shooting-board,  94 

—  -square,  349 
Mitring,  221,  417-419 
Models,  240 

Mortise  and  tenon.     See  Mortising. 
Mortise-chisels,  358 
gauge,  387 

—  open,  400 
Mortised  frame,  280 
Mortising,  419-428 
Mouldings,  48,  197,  198  (footnote) 
Moulds  (for  bending),  348,  349 

—  (for  boat),  304,  307,  309,  310,  315, 
316,  319,  320 

Mouth  (of  plane),  445,  452,  453 
Music-case,  200,  201 

Nailing,  428-433 
Nails,  433 

—  copper  and  galvanised,  300 

—  for  shingling,  270 

—  how  to  keep,  85 

—  use  of,  430-433  (Nailing) 

—  withdrawing,  504,  505 
Nail-set,  433,  434 
Needle-leaved  trees,  511 
Nippers,  434,  445 
Norway  pine,  5J9 

—  spruce,  521 
Notch-boards,  289 

Oak,  517,  §18 


546 


Index 


Oak,  quartered,  34 

Oblique  projections,  535 

Odd-jobs,  434 

Oil,  434 

finish,  381 

—  linseed.     See    Finishing,    Paint- 
ing, and  Staining. 

Oiling  handles,  etc.,  23 
Oilstone,  434,  435 

—  box  for,  85 

—  use  of.     See  Sharpening. 
Open  mortise  and  tenon,  400 
Operations,  some  every-day,  344-505 
Outdoor  seat,  210 

Outside  calipers,  356 

Overshot  water-wheels,  117,  118 

Packing-cases,  225 
Paddles,  327,  328 
Paint.     See  Painting. 
Painting,  435-441 

—  canvas,  323 

—  shingles,  270 

Panels,  366-372  (Doors  and  Panels) 
Panel-saw,  466 
Parallel  bars,  164-166 

—  projection,  535 
Paring,  441-444 

chisel.     See  Chisel  357,  358 

Parting  tool.     See  Carving  Tools. 
Patterns  for  bending.     See  Moulds. 
Pear  (wood),  518 
Pencil.     See  Marking,  414 
Perspective,  isometric,  535 
Piazza,  283,  287-289 
Picture-frames,  216,  217 
Pigeon-holes,  200 

houses.    See  Houses  for  Animals. 

Piers,  259,  260,  279 

Piles,  524 

Pincers,  445 

Pine,  518-520 

Pinning  mortise  and  tenon,  425 

Pins  for  mortise  and  tenon,  426 

Pipe-rack,  188,  189 

Pistols  and  guns  (wooden),  152—154 

Pitch,  525 

—  pine,  520 

Pith,  crooked,  529,  530 
Plan,  532-534 

—  (boat),  229,  230 


Plane,  445-458 

—  how  to  hold,  446,  447 
iron,  adjusting,  453,  454 

—  sharpening.     See  Sharpening. 

—  wooden  jack-  or  fore-,  holding,  446 
See  Planes. 

Planer-marks,  458 
Planes,  Japanese,  13,  14 

—  makers,  22 

—  where  to  keep,  82 

—  wooden,  oiling,  23.     See  Plane. 
Planing  down  stock,  44 

Planks,  definition,  47 

—  laying.     See  Boards,  laying. 

—  splitting.      See  Boards,  splitting. 
Plans.     See   Working  Drawings. 
Plant-stands,  201,  202,  207 
Plaster  of  Paris,  403 

Plates,  266 

Play-houses,  -booths,  or  -stores,  241- 

259 

—  "  Cottage  Row,"  271,  276 

—  -village,  118-121,  271,  276 
Pliers,  445 

—  cutting-,  366 

Plough,  21,  451.     See  Plane. 

Plum  (wood),  520 

Plumb,  96,  458 

Pod-bit,  353 

Pole,  sprung,  for  pressure,  362 

—  for  skis,  148 

Poles  (for  gymnastics),  173 
Polishing,  385,  386 
Poplar,  522 
Posts,  corner-,  265,  266 

—  foundation,  262-264 

—  setting,  262,  263 
Potash,  bichromate  of,  498 
Poultry-houses.     See  House-building 

for  Beginners  and  Houses  for  A  ni- 
mals. 

Preservation  of  wood,  decay  and,  524- 
526 

—  of  forests,  509 

Pressure,    means    of   applying.      See 

Clamps  and  Handscrews. 
Projections,  oblique  or  parallel,  and 

isometric,  535 

Proportions  of  structures,  176,  240 
Punch  (for  nails).      See  Nail-set  433, 

434 


Index 


547 


Punts  and  scows,  299-308 
Purlins,  268 
Putty,  459 

—  -knife,  459 

—  use  of,  403,  439 

Quartered  oak,  34,  179 
Queen-bolts,  159 
Quill-bit,  353 

Rabbet,  185,  187,  459 
— -hutch,  132, 133 

—  -plane.     See  Plane  450,  451 
Rack,  for  books,  183,  184 

—  for  pipes,  188,  189 

—  for  table  or  desk,  184,  185 

—  for  tools,  83,  84 
Rafters,  282 

—  arrangement  of,  287 

—  hip-,  284 

—  jack-,  284 

—  laying  out,  268 

Rails  (of  door  or  panel  work),  370 

—  (of  table),  204 
Rasp,  460 

Rasping.     See  Filing. 
Ratchet-brace,  351 
Ratchets  (for  shelves),  489 
Rat-tailed  file,  380 

Raw  oil.     See  Painting,  437 
Rays,  medullary,  29,  30 
Reamers,  353 
Rear  elevation,  532 
Red  cedar,  514 

—  deal,  519 

—  fir,  519 

—  lead,  438  (Painting) 

—  oak,  518 

—  pine,  Canadian,  519 
Redwood,  520 

Relishing  (relished  joint),  425 
Repairing  furniture,  460-462 
Ribbands,  320 
Ribs,  314,  321,  324,  325 

—  bending.     See  Bending  Wood. 
Ridge-board,  268 
Rift-flooring,  36 

—  stock,  35,  36 
Rings,  annual,  29 

—  swinging  (gymnastic),  173 
Ripping-saw,  468,  469  (Saw) 


Risers,  289 
Rivets,  462 
Rock  elm,  515 

—  maple,  517 
Rod,  measuring,  53 
Roof-boards,  268 

—  -timbers,  268 

—  durability  of,  525 
Roofing-paper,  246,  258 
Roofs,  128,  268-270 

—  for  house-boat,  341,  342 

—  hip-,  284-286 

—  lean-to,    shed,    or    single-pitched, 
241,  250 

—  overhang  of,  282 

Rope  twisted  for  pressure,  362 
Rosewood,  520 
Rot,  wet  and  dry,  526 
Rounding  sticks,  462-465 

—  form  for,  95,  96 
Router.     See  Plane,  451 
Rowboat,  small,  308-311 
Rowboats,  299-317 
Rowlocks,  302,  306,  313 
Rubbing  down,  384 
Rule,  465 

—  makers,  22 

Ruler,  marking  by,  415 
Runner-board,  ice-boat,  334 
Runners,  ice-boat,  335-338 
Running  foot,  48,  244 
Runway  for  animals,  128,  276 
Rust,  preventing,  23 
Rustic  summer  houses  and  arbours, 
292,  293 

Saddle-boards,  269 
Sail-boat,  small,  311,  328-332 
Sail,  leg-of-mutton,  332 

—  sprit-,  332 

San  Domingo  mahogany,  517 
Sandpaper,  465,  466 

—  block,  466 

Sandpapering.     See  Sandpape.-. 
Sanitary  precautions,  277-279 
Sap,  30 

Sapwood,  29,  42,  43,  510 

Sassafras,  522 

Satinwood,  521 

Saw,  466-473 

filing,  485-487  (Sharpening) 


548 


Index 


Saw-set,  473 
Sawing.     See  Saw. 

—  curves,  180 

—  joints  to  fit,  410 

—  log,  ways  of,  30-35 

—  lumber,  31-35 
Saws,  Japanese,  14,  15 

—  makers,  22 

—  where  to  keep,  82 
Scale  (for  drawings),  533 

Scarfing,  bevelled,  or  splaying,  410, 

411 

Schedule  of  materials,  55 
Scoring  with  cuts.     See  Paring. 
Scotch  fir,  519 

—  pine,  519 

Scows  and  punts,  299-308 
Scrap-boxes,  85 
Scraper,  473,  474 

—  for  beading,  345,  346 

—  Japanese,  13,  14 

—  sharpening,  487,  488  (Sharpening) 

—  where  to  keep,  85 
Scraping.     See  Scraper. 
Scratch-awl,  345  (Awl) 
Screw-drivers,  475,  476 

—  for  bit-brace,  476 

—  long  and  short,  476 
Screws,  and  their  use,  476-479 

—  how  to  keep,  85 
Scriber.     See  Marking,  414 
Scribing.    See  Marking,  414-416  and 

479,  480 

Seams  of  boat.     See  Caulking. 
Seasoned  stock,  164,  177,  178 

—  tests  for,    39,  40.     See    Seasoning 
lumber. 

Seasoning    lumber,    36-40,    42,    164, 

177,  178,  522-524 
Seat  for  corner,  with  shelves,  212 

—  outdoor,  210 

Second  story,  framing  at,  296,  297 
Secret  dovetailing,  373 

—  nailing.     See   Blind-  and    Sliver- 
nailing,  432 

Section,  533,  534 
See-saw,  tilt  or,  142-145 
Sequoia,  520 
Set  (for  nails),  433,  434 

—  (of  saw),  467 
Setting  glass,  391 


Setting  mirrors,  391 

—  nails,  433,  434 

—  posts,  262,  263 

—  saws.     See  Sharpening. 
Settle,  corner,  with  shelves,  212 

—  with  table,  212-214 
Sewerage,  278,  279 
Shacks,  241-259 
Shagbark  (hickory),  515 
Shakes,  531 

Sharpening  tools,  16,  22,  23,  25,  480- 
488 

Sharpie  (sail-boat),  328-332 

Shave.  See  Draw-knife  and  Spoke- 
shave. 

Sheathing,  46,  47,  245,  269 

—  for  canvas  canoe,  325,  326 

—  outside  of  house  with  paper,  273 
paper,  246 

—  striking,  245 
Shed-roof.     See  Lean-to. 
Sheer  plan,  229,  230 

Shelf  for  books,  hanging,  185 
Shellac.     See  Finishing. 
Shell-bit,  353  (Bits) 
Shelves,  corner,  190,  191 

—  ends  of,  195 

—  for  pipes,  etc.,  188,  189 

—  for  wall,  187-189 

—  movable,  489 

—  or  pigeon-holes,  200 
Shingles,  48,  269 
Shingling,  269,  270 

—  hips,  285,  286 
Shooting-board,  93,  94 

—  use  of,  490,  491 
Shrinkage,  30-35 

—  effects  of  swelling  and  shrinking, 
526-531.     See  Expansion  and  Con- 
traction. 

Shutter,  247,  258 
Side  elevation,  532 

plates,  287 

Sills,  265 

Silver-grain  or  rays.     See  Medullary 

rays  and  Quartered  oak. 
Single-pitched  roof.     See  Lean-to. 
Site,  selection  of,  277-279 
Sizing  of  floor-beams,  267 
Skag,  307 
Skew-chisel,  357,  358 


Index 


549 


Skiffs,  308-314 

Skis,  145-148 

Slab-sided  file,  380 

Sleds,  155-163 

Slips,  435,  484 

Sliver  nailing,  432 

Sloid  knife.     See  Knife,  411,  412 

—  work-bench,  57 
Smoke-pipe,  257-259 
Smoking  wood,  524 

Smoothing,   179,   180,  450,  453,  457, 
458.  See  Plane,  Scraper,  Sandpaper. 
— plane,  448,  449 
Snake,  wooden,  108,  109 
Sofa  with  bookcase,  etc.,  211 
Soft  wood,  45 
Sole  (of  plane),  445 
Southern  pine,  519,  520 
Specimens  of  wood,  44,  507,  508 
Sperm  oil,  434 
Splaying  (splice),  410,  411 
Splices.     See  Joints  and  Splices. 
Spline,  491 

Split  stock.     See  Rift. 
Splitting  stock,  44,  527-529 

—  wood,  28,  491 
Spokeshave,  491,  492 

—  makers,  22 
Spoon-bit,  353 
Sporting-cabinet,  215,  216 
Spring-board,  170 
Sprit-sail,  332 

Spruce,  521 
Square,  492-495 

—  -foot,  47,  244  (note) 

—  makers,  22 

—  mitre,  349 

—  where  to  keep,  84,  85,  and  Frontis- 
piece 

Squaring  work,  181 

—  with  clamps,  360,  361 
Squirrel-house,   136—139 
Stacking  lumber,  39,  44 

—  result  of  careless,  42 
Staining,  495-498 

—  shingles,  270 

Stains,  creosote-,  270,  525 
Stairs,  289 

—  (for  little  houses),  123 
Staking  out,  260-262 

Stands,  for  plants,  201,  202,  207 


Stands,  small,  202,  207-209 
Star-shakes,  531 
Steam-chest,  347 
Steaming  wood,  347  (Bending) 
Steel  square,  495 

—  -wool,  498,  499 
Steering  (sleds),  159,  160,  163 
Stem-posts,  309,  310,  320-323 
Steps,  289 

Stern-post,  327.     See  Stern-posts. 
"  Sticking  "  lumber.     See  Stacking. 
Stile  (of  door  or  panel  work),  370 
Stilts,  141 
Stock  (of  plane),  445 

—  "built  up,"  409,  410,  530,  531 

—  care  of,  44 

—  cross-  or  crooked-grained,  40,  41, 
529,  530 

—  planing  down,  44 

—  splitting,  527-529 

—  rift  or  split,  35,  36.     See  Lumber. 
Stop,  bench-,  71-75 

—  -chamfer,  357 

—  for  drawers,  378 
Stove-pipe.     See  Smoke-pipe. 
Stores  or  houses,  play-,  241-259 
Straight-bent  chisel,  358 
Straight-edge,  86,  499 

—  marking  by,  415 

—  to  detect  warping  or  winding.    See 
Winding-sticks. 

Striking  circles  and  arcs,  364,  365 
Stringers  or  strings  (stairs),  289 
Strop,  85,  499,  500 
Stropping,  485 
Studding,  266,  287 

—  second-story,  296 
Sugar  maple,  517 

—  pine,  519 

Summer  cottages,  simple,  271-290 

houses,  291-293 

Sunlight,  277,  278 

Swelling  and  shrinking,  30-35,  50-53, 

225,  526-531 
Swing,  giant,  172,  173 
Swords,  wooden,  106,  107 
Sycamore,  521 

Table,  and  settle,  or  chair,  212-214 
— top,  putting  on,  203,  205,  206,  209 
Tables,  203-209 


550 


Index 


Tacks,  500 

—  for  canvas  canoes,  323 
Tallow,  bayberry,  378 
Tamping,  263 

Tank,  water-,  for  frogs,  etc.,  139,  140 

Tannic  acid,  526 

Tape,  500 

Tar,  coal-  and  wood-,  525 

Teak,  522 

Templates,  231 

Tennis  rackets,  104 

Tenon.     See  Mortising. 

—  -saw.     See  Saw  (Back-saw). 
Tenons  (in  repairing),  462 
Thole-pins,  302 
Thompson's  Island,  271 
Three-cornered  file.     See  File. 
Throat  (of  plane),  445 

Tilt,  or  see-saw,  142-145 
Timber,  definition,  45 

—  durability  of.     See  Lumber. 
Toboggan,  148-152 
Toe-nailing,  431,  432 
Toggle-joint,  application  of,  267 
Tool-cabinets,  96-101 

chest,  96,  97,  223,  224 

—  -handles,  oiling,  23 

—  -rack,  83,  84 
Tools,  9-28 

—  and  supplies,  arrangement,  80-86, 
96 

—  cabinet  for,  96—101 

—  care  of,  22,  23 

—  common,  and  their  use,  344-505 

—  edge-,  25-28 

— Japanese,  14,  15 

—  lists  of,  18-20 

—  makers,  22 

—  primitive,  9-15 

—  sharpening,   16,    22,   23,   25,  480— 
488 

—  "  universal,"  18 

—  use  of,  23-25 
Toothed-plane,  449,  450 
Toothing,  449,  450 
Totlet  Town,  118-121 
Toughness,  40,  511 

Toy  boats,  hulls  of,  227-237 

—  village,  118-121 
Toys,  106-125 
Trapeze,  173 


Travelling-cage,  140 
Traverse  (sled),  156-163 
Traversing,  446 
Treads,  289 

Trees.  See  Felling  and  Seasoning 
and  Preservation  of  Forests. 

—  big,  520 

—  broad-leaved,  511 

—  conifers  or  needle-leaved,  511 
Trestles,  88-90 

Triangular  file,  380 
Trigger,  153 

Trimming.     See  Paring. 
Truing,  grindstone,  398 

—  oil-stone,  435 

—  stock  (surfaces),  179,  500,  501 
Trunk  for  centre-board,  330,  331 
Trying-plane,  447,  448  (Plane) 
Try-square.     See  Square  (492). 
Tulip  wood,  48 

Tupelo,  522 

Turning,  Indian,  10,  n 

—  -saw,  469,  470 

Turpentine.  See  Finishing  and 
Painting,  437,  438,  498,  526 

Turtles,  frogs,  lizards,  etc.,  tank  for, 
139,  MO 

Twist-drill,  501 

"  Twister  "  (rope),  362 

Twisting.     See  Winding. 

Two-foot  square,  495 

Undercutting,  195,  410 
Underpinning,    259,    260,    262-264, 

279 

Undershot  water-wheel,  116,  117 
"  Universal  "  planes,  451 

—  tools,  1 8 

Varnish.    See  Finishing. 

—  Japan,  438 

—  -stains,  496 
Vaulting  apparatus,  169 

—  board,  170 

horse,  170,  172 

Veining-tool.     See  Carving-tools. 
Village,  play,   "Cottage  Row,"  271- 

276 

—  Totlet  Town,  118-121 
Vise,  bench-,  65-71,  536 

—  for  metal,  75.  76 


Index 


Vise,  Japanese  carpenter's,  13 

—  parallelism  of  jaws,  67,  68 
V  tool,  357 

Wale-strips.     See  Gunwale  strips. 
Wall-cabinet,  186,  189,  190 

shelves,  187-189 

Walnut.     See  Black  Walnut,  513 
Warping  of  lumber,  32-34,  409,  410, 

502,  526-531 

Washboard.     See  Coaming. 
Washita  stone,  434 
Water-line,  230  (footnote) 

—  pure,   277-279 
— table,  273 

— -tank  for  frogs,  turtles,  etc.,  139, 
140 

—  -tight    compartments,     318,     319 
(footnote) 

wheels,  116-118 

\Vax  finish,  381 

Weather-drying,  36,  40.  See  Season- 
ing. 

Weather-vane  (steamboat),  115.  See 
Windmills. 

Wedge  for  splitting,  28 

Wedges,  502,  503 

Wedging.     See  Wedges. 

—  tenons,  427,  428 
Wet  rot,  526 

Weymouth  pine.     See  Pine. 
Wheel,  steering-  (for  sled),  160 
Whetstone.     See  Oil-stone. 
Whetting.     See  Sharpening. 
White  ash,  512 

—  cedar,  514 

—  deal,  521 

—  lead.     See  Painting. 

—  mahogany,  517 

—  oak,  518 

—  pine,  518,  519 
Whitewood,  521 

Whittling,  4,  218,  219.     See  Knife. 

Willow,  522 

Winding,  41,  360,  526-531 

—  -sticks,  503,  504 
Windmills,  109-116 
Window-casings,  272 
shutter,  258 

—  sliding,  248 

Windows  and  doors,  sizes  of,  276 


Wind-shakes,  531 
Wing  compasses,  364 
Wire-edge,  480 
Withdrawing  nails,  504,  505 
Wood,  29-48  (Chapter  III.),  510-522. 
See  lumber. 

—  charring,  263,  264,  525 

—  checking    and     cracking,    31,    42, 
526 

—  collection  of  specimens,   44,    507, 
508 

—  colour  of,  40 

—  cross-grained,  40,  41,  529,  530 

—  curling  and  warping,   32-34,  409, 
410,  502,  526-531 

—  durability  of.    See  Decay  and  Pre- 
servation. 

—  -filler,  385 

—  hard,  45 

—  methods  of  drying,  36-40,  522-524 

—  quality  of,  33-35,  S™,  511,  522 

—  seasoning  of,  36-40,  42,  164,  177, 
178,  522-524 

—  selection  of,  33-45,  510,  511,  522 

—  shrinkage    and     swelling,    30-35, 
50-53,  225,  526-531 

—  soft,  45 
tar,  525 

—  warped,  41.     See  Warping. 

—  winding,  41.     See  Winding. 
Wooden  chain,  218,  219 

—  guns  and  pistols,  152-154 
Woods  and  some  of  their  characteris- 
tics, 510-522 

Work-bench,  57-65 

—  first-class,  101,  536,  537 

—  makeshifts,  77-80 

—  position  and  care  of,  74,  75 

—  sloid,  57 

—  top,  74,  536 

Working  drawings,  49,  50,  532-536 

—  edge  or  surface,  54 
Workshop,  56-101,  259-270 
Wrench,  505 

Wrought  nails,  433 

Yellow  deal,  519  (Pine) 

—  fir,  519 

—  pine,  519 
Yew,  522 

Zinc,  438  (Painting) 


THe    Adventures 

of 

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A  Tale  of  the  Days  of 
Marlborough.  and  Eugene 

By 

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